Can I Pet That Dog

 

Good Boy sees a man called Todd move into his grandfather's old house in the woods to convalesce from a serious lung condition. Unfortunately, his peace is interrupted by a series of creepy events. It is unclear how much of what is happening is due to the supposedly cursed nature of the house and how much is to do with a relapse of his illness. Standard horror stuff, apart from the fact the entire film is told from the point of view of Todd's faithful companion, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Indy.

On paper, a mostly dialogue free horror movie is a risky move, as evidenced by last year's "In a Violent Nature" (a slasher movie shown from the point of view of the wordless killer). Good Boy though has one massive advantage over that movie; instead of spending an hour odd staring at someone's back, we are looking at an adorable dog. 

And debut director Ben Leonberg really makes the most of his star attraction, who just so happens to be his own real life, pet dog. Indy has a range of facial expressions that put many human actors to shame and his soulful eyes do more to draw the viewer in than a master cinematographer could. While the human role is played by Shane Jensen, obscuring his face for most of the scenes allows Leonberg to body double and get the most out of his canine leading man. I suspect an experienced dog trainer may be able to tell how they got Indy to perform his various movements and looks, but to the lay person it looks like magic and it's easy to imagine the little guy as a professional actor retiring to his trailer after each take. A whole host of different shots and angles are used to showcase the little retriever and convey his state of mind. With that in mind, this may be a tough watch for dog lovers who struggle to cope with watching man's best friend in distress. That said, this isn't a hard edged horror so the peril is never too extreme.

In fact, any actual scary moments are thin on the ground. There is a good sense of atmosphere but the tricks used to establish it do start to run thin. There are only so many times an old black and white TV can show a slightly out of focus old horror movie or static before it grates rather than chills and the idea of Indy struggling to identify his ailing owner can only go so far. Add in the fact that any plot has to be relayed via Todd having a phone conversation with his sister and it's a wise choice to keep the runtime at an uber-trim seventy-three minutes. 

Good Boy is a slight film, both in terms of length and content, and probably would have been completely at home as the streaming only title Shudder surely acquired it to be. It's also not particularly scary. It is, however, full of heart and has as charming a lead as you're ever going to see. If nothing else, interest in a lesser know dog breed is about to skyrocket. 

6 man's best friends out of 10