Dee Wallace - The Often Overlooked Scream Queen

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https://www.peliplat.com/en/article/10082723/dee-wallace-the-often-overlooked-scream-queen

When most people think of actors who define the term “Scream Queen,” they usually picture the canonical few:

• Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode in the Halloween franchise

• Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott in the Scream franchise

• Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in the Alien franchise

• Milla Jovovich as Alice in Resident Evil

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But for me, one of the best and most criminally overlooked is Dee Wallace.

Growing up in the 1980s, she was the equivalent of Jimmy Stewart for older generations, the quintessential parent, the everywoman. Always doing her best to protect her kids, often a single or struggling mother just trying to hold it together. She played the role with such sincerity that audiences forgot she was acting.

I’ve seen Dee in many films over the years, but her powerhouse performance in Cujo (1983) still stands out as one of the most emotionally charged in horror history.

For readers who haven’t seen it, a fair warning of spoilers ahead.

Based on Stephen King’s novel, Cujo tells the story of a beloved St. Bernard who’s bitten by a rabid bat. What follows is a nightmare of escalating terror as the once - gentle giant turns into a deadly predator, trapping a mother (Dee Wallace) and her young asthmatic son in their car on a sweltering summer day.

It sounds like such a simple premise: one woman, with a child and a dog, but the claustrophobia and emotional intensity are almost unbearable. Dee carries the entire film on her sweat-soaked shoulders, transforming what could have been B-movie pulp into an acting masterclass.

In a recurring theme I often mention in my horror pieces: if this performance had been in a non-horror film, she would’ve been a shoo-in for Best Actress. Every tremor, scream, and glance of desperation makes it so real.

You can feel her fear - not of her own death, but the death of her child.

And it’s not just acting bravado. A behind-the-scenes documentary revealed that the filming conditions were brutal intense heat / cold, tight quarters, and of course, working with multiple St. Bernards. Yet, true to form, Dee powered through every challenge like the absolute pro she is.

In an interview about the movie she said that half the movie was shot in the car and when asked about it she said “If I never see another pinto again it will be too soon!”.

When the filming was completed she was treated for exhaustion for three weeks afterwards.

(You can check out the behind-the-scenes documentary here Dog Days The Making of Cujo)

While Cujo doesn’t feature an axe-wielding maniac or supernatural villain, the danger feels just as real. Cujo himself is tragic - a victim of circumstance. But when you’re trapped in that car, watching him snarl and slam against the doors, there’s no time for sympathy - only survival.

And just when you think the film has released you from its vice grip of dread and claustraphobia, it delivers one last punch.

If you want to see Dee in something a bit more fun, then, check out the awesome movie The Howling (1981). Here, she goes from a sympathetic wife to something a little more feral and it’s so cool! You get to see her tapping into camp and transformation with the same emotional authenticity she brought to Cujo.

13 dogs played Cujo (and a stuntman dressed up as Cujo!) - but there was only one Dee Wallace, and that’s makes her my favourite scream queen.