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Although it has its champions, CUJO is a disappointing effort from director Lewis Teague, whose homage to "B" monster movies, ALLIGATOR (1980), was a surprisingly effective (and funny) film. This time the "monster" is a bat-bitten, rabid St. Bernard that goes on a rampage, cornering a suburban housewife (Dee Wallace) and her son in a stranded Pinto station wagon, in 100-degree heat, for what seems like weeks. CUJO suffers from universally unsympathetic characters, and the dog is just not scary enough to maintain any interest. Significantly, the picture also lacks the sly humor that made ALLIGATOR so appealing. Most of the film's weaknesses, however, are due to Stephen King's flawed source material. CUJO could have been a good movie, but it isn't.