Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) is a frustrated housewife whose life is in turmoil after her husband Vic learns about her having an affair. Brett Camber (Billy Jacoby) is a young boy and a son of a mechanic, Joe, (Ed Lauter) whose only companion is a St. Bernard named "Cujo." While chasing a rabbit into a cave, Cujo is bitten by a bat with rabies and his behavior begins to change. While the dog begins to succumb to the disease, Brett and his mother leave for Connecticut to visit his mother's sister, using money from a lottery won by Mrs. Camber. When Donna and her young son, Tad (Danny Pintauro), drive out to the home where Cujo and the Cambers live, in order to fix Donna's car, the once-gentle Cujo, now driven mad by the disease, attack the Cambers' neighbor, Gary Parvier (Mills Watson). Gary engages the dog in a fight and drives it off briefly, retreating to his home. He tries to arm himself with a shotgun, but as he searches for the shells Cujo enters through a back door and attacks him again. A wild struggle follows in the front of Gary's house, and eventually he is overpowered and killed by Cujo. Joe Camber, after heading down to Gary's, looks for Gary but doesn't find him. He does find blood on the porch and goes inside - and discovers Gary's body on the floor, his throat torn open. Joe goes to call the police but Cujo suddenly enters the house, and Joe immediately recognizes that their once-beloved family pet is now rabid - and a dangerous menace. While trying to defend himself, Camber unwittingly backs himself into a corner and Cujo attacks & kills him too. When Donna & Tad reach the Camber house, their Ford Pinto car's alternator dies. They are ambushed by Cujo while still in their vehicle, sending Tad into a panic. Donna and Tad are trapped inside the Pinto while the massive dog waits outside, attacking repeatedly, all while Vic is out of town on a business trip. Donna's repeated attempts to start the car are in vain and the 200-lb St. Bernard charges the car with each attempt. Vic returns home to find his house trashed - the result of vandalism by Steve Kemp (Christopher Stone), the man Donna had the affair with. He calls the Sheriff and tells him that he suspects Kemp is also responsible for the disappearance of Donna and Tad, having called the home repeatedly but gotten no answer. The Sheriff puts an alert out for Kemp's vehicle and Kemp is soon picked up. While he admits to trashing the house, Kemp denies having even seen Donna and Tad. The Sheriff believes him and when informed by Vic that Donna was taking the car to Joe Camber's for repairs, goes out to the Camber house to investigate. The hot sun makes the conditions nearly unbearable, but Donna knows that certain death awaits them outside. Donna decides that she must do something before they both die from either heatstroke or dehydration, but the dog could be anywhere, however, and attempts at escape are foiled by repeated attacks by the mad dog, who tries to get into the car. After speaking to Vic following the break-and-enter, the local Sheriff arrives at the house. As he approaches he is ambushed by Cujo before he can draw his weapon. The gun is knocked from the Sheriff's hand by Cujo and the fight carries on inside the barn. Eventually, the Sheriff, too, is knocked from a catwalk and killed by the massive dog. Donna decides that she must risk going outside to save Tad, but the dog jumps out from underneath the car and bites her in the leg, forcing her back into the car. Eventually, a badly wounded Donna makes an attempt to dash for the house but is attacked by Cujo, the only safety being the car. She spots a baseball bat at the base of a tall tree in the yard, and gets an idea. While Cujo is distracted by a ringing telephone, Donna gets out of the car and retrieves the baseball bat. Cujo turns around on the porch to face her and she challenges him. After a prolonged, brutal struggle between the desperate mother and the relentless animal, Donna takes advantage of a momentary distraction and beats Cujo with a baseball bat several times until the bat breaks off, leaving only a jagged handle. The dog jumps at her, only to land on the broken handle, impaling him. The dog stops moving, apparently dead. Donna pushes the dog off and uses the sheriff's revolver to break open the back window and retrieve Tad, as Cujo had broken all of the handles. Reaching the house, Donna revives her son, who had passed out due to the extreme heat and dehydration. Without warning, Cujo bursts through the kitchen window and uses the last of his strength to try to kill the two. Before he can attack, though, Donna pulls out the Sheriff's pistol and shoots Cujo at point-blank range, killing him instantly. Vic, arriving at the Camber home, sees the Pinto and the Sheriff's car, but no signs of Donna or Tad. Beginning to panic, he calls out for Donna, who joins her husband outside, carrying Tad, and the credits begin to roll.
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