If you’ve ever had a dog, you know they bark at… nothing. But that’s easy to put aside when you’re a suburban dog dad like me. What if it isn’t nothing?
That question lurks at the spine of the horror movie I look forward to most in the fall — Good Boy. Expanded from a short film starring the acting find of the year “Indy,” Good Boy may just provide us with a new horror hero icon. Not a Final Girl, a Final Dog. And no, this isn’t a movie with talking pets; Indy follows in a long tradition of silent film stars… except the silence will be deafening and disturbing.
His bio explains that he’s “…a middle-aged, 35-pound retriever who has no idea that he’s a movie star. His favorite things are fetch, food, and his humans, Ben & Kari—in that order. His special talents include finding tennis balls and staring deep into your soul the moment before you fill his dinner bowl.”
Our canine hero, Indy, finds himself on a new adventure with his human owner—and best friend—Todd, leaving city life for a long-vacant family home in the country. From the start, two things are abundantly clear: Indy is wary of the creepy old house, and his affection for Todd is unwavering. After moving in, Indy is immediately vexed by empty corners, tracks an invisible presence only he can see, perceives phantasmagoric warnings from a long-dead dog, and is haunted by visions of the previous occupant’s grim death. When Todd begins succumbing to the dark forces swirling around the house, Indy must battle a malevolence intent on dragging his beloved Todd into the afterlife.
While the resemblance is superficial at best, Good Boy does remind me of the Dark Horse graphic novel series Beasts of Burden, created by Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson, and Benjamin Dewey. There the domesticated pets of Burden Hill have a sacred duty: to defend humanity from the dark supernatural forces they see and most humans don’t. If you haven’t read it yet, pick it up and perhaps it will tide you over until October 3.
Directed By BEN LEONBERG
Written By ALEX CANNON and BEN LEONBERG
Produced By KARI FISCHER and BEN LEONBERG
Co-Produced By BRIAN GOODHEART
Music By SAM BOASE-MILLER
Starring
INDY as HIMSELF
(MOSTLY) HUMAN CAST
Todd SHANE JENSEN
Vera ARIELLE FRIEDMAN
Grandpa LARRY FESSENDEN
Richard STUART RUDIN
Weatherman / Narrator HUNTER GOETZ
Doctor ANYA KRAWCHECK
Bandit MAX
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