EP#303 Director Lewis Teague ("Stephen King's Cujo", "Alligator")

Kevin Lane's Spill Your Guts

Our guest today has one of the most diverse bodies of work of any director we’ve had on the show. He has worked in multiple genres throughout his decades long career and proven himself to be a filmmaker who kills in any genre space he works in.

Having come up in the business along industry friends such as Martin Scorsese and Sydney Pollack, he is part of cinema history as one of the filmmakers creating distinct and memorable work with a style that is unquestionably his own.

However, it is a film regarded as one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s most beloved books that has made him an icon of horror

In this episode we will be joined by filmmaker Lewis Teague.

Often regarded by his peers and fans alike as “underrated”, Lewis first made a name for himself in the genre with the cult classic “Alligator”. Better than anyone thought an Alligator living in the sewer’s movie had any right to be, and featuring a bravura performance by lead actor Robert Forster, “Alligator” has gone on to become a favorite of horror fans.

Lewis’ 1983 adaptation of Stephen King’s “Cujo” is considered by many, including King himself, as one of the ultimate King adaptations. With unbearably taught direction, nerve frying cinematography by legendary cinematographer Jan De Bont and a career best performance by genre royalty Dee Wallace, “Cujo” remains untouched in the canon of Stephen King movies.

With a great dry sense of humour and uncanny style for storytelling, Lewis shared with me his youth as a bit of a trouble maker before winding up in the military, finding his way in the hay-day of Hollywood auteurs, his ups and downs in show business and his enjoyment in teaching in his later life.

So, let’s strap into a Ford Pinto and prepare to have our adrenal glands blown with Lewis Teague!

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