Told from the dogs’ own point of view, comes a tail? – nope, a tale, of a loyal dog who moves into a rural family home with his owner, only to find the place haunted, his owner cursed, and the poor doggy now tasked with fighting to keep them both alive!
Oh this one is just amazing, folks. Haunted house films are often a dime a dozen these days, but to tell such a story from literally a brand new angle – the camera is often lower to the ground, as in the dogs’ own POV – is fresh and exciting and wonderful. The tricks of light and shadow, the usage of very little dialogue, and a clear love for horror that anyone can appreciate, gives us the incredible film that is Good Boy, and just in time for Halloween too. Make sure your snack bowl is all full, and let’s get into this!
So Todd (Shane Jensen) isn’t in the best of health, and his sister Vera (Arielle Friedman) is worried about him. Especially when, sick of the hospitals and doctors and being sick in general, Todd decides to up and haul himself and his faithful dog Indy (director Ben Leonberg’s own dog, Indy) to the old family homestead, out in the middle-of-nowhere woods. This was grandpa’s (Larry Fessenden) place at one point, its been in the family for generations, but apparently grandpa and his beloved dog that looks eerily like Indy, died here in some unnamed but gruesome fashion too. Both Vera and Todd seem to be at least peripherally aware of this, but Todd is becoming too sickly to care, and seemed to be somehow compelled to come here anyway. And nothing would do but for Todd to bring his bestest buddy, been with him since he was a puppy, the steadfastly loyal and good boy Indy, with him.
Immediately Indy smells that this is all kinds of a Bad Place, even the outside with its fairly constant rain and eerie fog banks giving off disconcerting lights and shadows. The inside isn’t much better, the old homestead seems to be in a state of unfinished repairs, and the parts of the house that aren’t covered in rain-plastered tarps, is sitting under a blanket of unmoved-in-ages dust. The main bedroom still seems usable and that’s where Todd ends up spending a good deal of his time, as he gets sicker and sicker. A seriously old black and white TV and some ancient VHS tapes filled with grandpas rambling, incoherent last days where he tries to dictate his Will, are the sole source of entertainment. From these tapes we learn of grandpas distaste for his extended family, his insistence that the homestead remain in the family and eventually go to Todd himself, and his love for his own dog, who looks hauntingly like Indy himself, but for the red handkerchief grandpas dog wears around his neck. This same red handkerchief becomes terribly important quite soon too.
Saying anything else would honestly take away from this atmospheric gem of a movie. The scene where the ghost of grandpas dog appears to Indy and takes him on the Final Person journey of horrific discovery through the house is absolute genius and a smart twist on the usual ghostly reveal in a Horror flick. A few jump scares sure but Indy is no coward, and when he decides to fight back against the monster, the theater really did erupt in cheers. Do yourself a favor, and see the gorgeously made, deeply atmospheric, and repeat-viewing-worthy film in theaters now.
What can a dog do against monsters and ghosts? More than you might think! Catch up with the bravery of Indy in Good Boy, in theaters now!
Reviewed by Alicia Glass