Stephen King Thinks Dee Wallace Should Have Won an Oscar For Her Role in CUJO
There are a lot of great movies that have been made that are based on Stephen King stories and some of them have earned Oscar nominations over the years. Brian De Palma's Carrie saw Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie nominated in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories. Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile were both nominated for several awards. Then there was Rob Reiner’s Misery, in which Kathy Bates won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes.
But there was a performance from another movie that Stephen King thinks should have been recognized during award season, but it wasn’t. Not only does he think Dee Wallace should have been nominated for her role in Lewis Teague's 1983 film Cujo, he thinks she should have won, and he’s right.
The author was recently a guest on The Kingcast, and there he praised Wallace’s work on the film, saying:
“One of the other ones that's really great… was Cujo. I thought, again, this is the sort of conversation that you get into with people about awards season, and who gets nominated and who doesn't get nominated. Dee Wallace should have been nominated for an Academy Award, and in my opinion, she should have won it. She was just passed over.
“I think that a lot of voters, particularly those who are a little bit older – I won't say they are walking around with colostomy bags, but I'm not saying they're not. I think a lot of them give those movies a pass, and that was just an incredible, incredible performance.”
In this tale of a killer dog, “man's best friend turns into his worst enemy. When sweet St. Bernard Cujo is bitten by a bat, he starts behaving oddly and becomes very aggressive. As Cujo morphs into a dangerous beast, he goes on a rampage in a small town. Stay-at-home mom Donna (Wallace) gets caught in Cujo's crosshairs on a fateful errand with her son, Tad, stuck in their tiny car, Donna and Tad have a frightening showdown with the crazed animal.”
It’s an absolutely terrifying film and Wallace delivered an incredible performance. Her performance is what makes the movie as great as it is. She completely sold the horror and the intensity of the story. Hell, during the production, she was actually bitten in the face by one of the dogs used in the film and she had to get eight stitches!
If you’ve never seen Cujo, or you haven’t seen it in a while, you should check it out! It’s a great and brutal horror film featuring one of Wallace’s greatest performances.