[31 Days of Horror XII] Day 1

Director: Ben Leonberg
Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden
Screenplay: Alex Cannon, Ben Leonberg
73 mins. Rated PG-13 for terror, bloody images and strong language.

Happy October! Once again, we find ourselves in the realm of horror (though this writer spends 12 months a year in the realm of horror). Just as in previous years, we’ll be celebrating the best 31 days of the year with 31 Days of Horror. Let’s begin with the Good Boy, which contains a dog performance worthy of creating a new award at the Oscars.

Indy is a loyal and loving dog belonging to human owner Todd (Shane Jensen), who has just moved them into his grandfather’s home in the middle of nowhere. Upon arriving, it becomes clear to Indy that there is a dark presence in the old house. Shadows flitter on the walls, and there are sounds and movement in supposedly empty parts of the home. His owner is sick, though, and Indy has to gather the courage needed to keep his human safe from these nefarious beings.

Indy is a freaking star. The pup actor, owned by human director Ben Leonberg (Bears Discover Fire), is an incredible performer. This dog makes it look so easy. In fact, I’d argue it may be the single best performance by a dog actor in cinema history, at least on the level of Messi from Anatomy of a Fall. There’s a sincere and attentive love that any pet owner should be able to recognize in Indy’s performance, and the dog has great chemistry with Shane Jensen, playing his owner. I was honestly convinced that Jensen was Indy’s owner. I love how Leonberg directs the scenes of Indy as he views Todd, with a bit of a blurred face, creating distance and relying on sound work for the chemistry. I guess I’m saying: Academy, we need a new category, or at the very least a special award and a free ticket for the Bestest Boy actor to be at the big award show.

The personification of the supernatural beings worked pretty well for me, even if they are often relegated to shadows and the overly dark cinematography. There will be some that complain that we don’t see enough, but I’d argue that there’s a slow buildup that allowed me to be uncertain if I saw anything at all. The movie is certainly too darkly-lit but the moments of light and shadows are effective.

While Indy’s performance adds a lot of emotional heft, the story, which is too bare bones, holds Good Boy from true greatness. It’s light on exposition, and it never fully commits to its central premise. There’s something happening to Todd, the owner, and what we’re given to go on with him just isn’t enough. Perhaps that’s what Leonberg is going for, the confusion that our animals have when we’re sick, but I don’t think it makes the necessary connections for me as a member of the audience. It’s clever to keep the focus on Indy and filtering everything through him, but I don’t think the screenplay fits that idea successfully. I frequently found that I didn’t care for the owner nearly as much as I cared about the dog, and making me feel for Todd’s safety should be priority number one for a story like this.

Wayne Smith’s werewolf novel Thor is entirely from the dog’s perspective, but when it was adapted for the screen as Bad Moon, this idea was jettisoned. The concept of a horror movie from the dog’s point of view isn’t a new one, but it somehow has never really been accomplished, so I admire and respect the dedication to his idea for Good Boy, and it works more than it doesn’t. It has an incredible lead pup performance that’s worth the price of admission all on its own, and the creature designs and shadow work can be thrilling, though the screenplay misses the mark on the human element. At a brisk 70 minutes, I think more could’ve been done with the screenplay to increase the thrills and tension, and brightening up enough of the environment to create more effective and memorable scares would’ve created a more palpable tension throughout, but the moody setting and memorable performance from Indy are more than worthy of recommending. Someone, get this dog an agent!

3/5
-Kyle A. Goethe