You might have seen the trailer for Good Boy recently; it’s a horror movie, but shot all from the perspective of a dog. The dog can see the ghosts, but the humans can’t.
The movie stars Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Stuart Rudin, and Larry Fesenden. Indy is the dog and uses his own name, which is a little cliché.
The Story
Telling you about Good Boy is going to be tough, without spoiling the story, but I will do my best.
The opening credits are all about Indy, a new dog for Todd (Jensen). From a small puppy, he has a new best friend, and they have both found a new member of the family. All is good.
Until we find out that Todd isn’t well, in fact, pretty seriously ill. He decides that he and Indy need to head to his grandfather’s cabin and chill out, and for some R&R. Unfortunately, they are not alone in the house. Man, are there any cabins in the woods that aren’t haunted?
The thing is, Indy can see what’s going on; Todd cannot. As time goes on, their friendship is tested, as Indy seems scared of something, but Todd has no idea why. That’s all I’m going to spoil about the story, but it is very good.
The Cast
The main star of Good Boy is Indy; in fact, Indy is the only cast member. Yes, Todd, and a few other characters are in the movie, but you only ever see Indy’s face. Well, that’s not entirely true, you see, Todd’s grandfather, but only on old VHS video recordings.
Almost every shot in the movie is on Indy, or from his POV. Seeing the trailer, I liked the idea, but I had no idea if it could work. Like George Lucas said, if one of the main characters acting is bad, the movie wouldn’t work. This was true; simply compare Yoda to Jar Jar Binks.
The thing about Good Boy is that Indy is, well, amazing! I’m not kidding here, his ‘acting’ is better than some humans I could mention. There are some very long and complex shots, where Indy has to hit a mark, look scared, whimper, and run off-screen. And you know what? He does it brilliantly!
Some trivia about Good Boy: it took the director, Ben Leonberg, over 400 days to shoot the movie, because the main star was a dog. I can see this happening, but damn if he didn’t get the best out of Indy.
Sympathy for the Dog
I watched Bodies, Bodies, Bodies last year and, towards the end, I was hoping all of the main cast would be killed off! I had zero sympathy for a bunch of smooth-brained mouth breathers, who were all terrible, unlikeable characters.
Indy is different, I felt for him, was scared for him, and damn it, if anything happened to that dog, I would have gone John Wick on the director! I’m not spoiling anything, but Indy has to go through a lot, especially towards the end, and I was with him every step of the way.
Having the movie completely shot from Indy’s perspective could have been a disaster. My old Bull Terrier wouldn’t do a thing you told her if you had a huge steak to bribe her with. Indy, however, is a very well-trained dog, and even though it took 400 days, it’s all up there on the screen.
Overall
Good Boy is not just a good horror movie, but there is a good story in there as well. I’m not going to say what, but I thought the story was going to be something else. The way it actually unfolded was a nice surprise and ended in a satisfying way.
Although again, without spoilers, I got chatting to a couple of people after the movie, and they pointed out something about Indy at the end. It was something I completely missed, but it made me think of things a little differently. I love it when that happens.
Good Boy isn’t perfect. One thing that really annoyed me was the overuse of music. There are times when Indy wanders into a room and can see ‘something’. It’s not violins, but there is music that is giving things an undertone.
There are also scenes where all you can hear is Indy’s paws on the wooden floors, which was much scarier. If the director had toned down the music, this would have been a much better movie, with more atmosphere and just scarier.
I’m being picky, though; overall, this was a really solid movie, and it had a cast member I really wanted to see make it to the end. I had John Wick’s number on speed dial, just in case.
Good Boy was a refreshing take on the horror genre. Well, I can’t think of a movie where it’s all from the pet’s perspective. If you know of any, let me know, as I would like to try them. Good Boy is a good boy, and I’m giving it a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars. It was well made, original (sort of), and Indy was great. I’ll try and get an interview with him.
Good Boy will be in UK cinemas on the 10th of Oct.
