I SAW GOOD BOY

Thanks to my recent, Shudder queue, I got to view Good Boy, a supernatural thriller told through a dog's point of view, with humans present, but kept out of range. 

Directed by Ben Leonberg, who coscripted with Alex Cannon, Good Boy's hero is an actor named Indy, a golden retriever, that is, who plays a dog named Indy. The caring canine accompanies his owner, Todd (Shane Jenson), to his grandfather (Larry Fessenden)'s dilapidated cabin. (Todd's grandad is featured in grainy, video-tape footage and through various, obscured inserts.) 

Todd is combatting a terminal, lung disease and has distanced himself from his sister, Vera (Arielle Friedman), who annoys him with her persistent concern. Todd's neighbor, Richard (Stuart Rudin) roams the area, warning Todd and Indy of the fox traps he's set, but there's a deeper danger at hand, which rolls from the dim, dank netherworld.

A tall, slimy, parasitic demon has emerged from the cabin's basement, summoned (per implication) by an enigmatic, family curse. Indy sees the creature, and it sees him, leaving Todd in the margins to face his progressing symptoms. In truth, the demon acts as an allegorical device, for while it intrudes, Todd fights a comparable variant. Both correlating infections must be purged, but can either protagonist accomplish the feat? Ah, in that lies the type of tension that any worth-while, monster movie must possess!  

Leonberg has cited Poltergeist (1982) as an inspiration for his tale, and elements of the Spielberg/Hooper classic are evident, but the Evil Dead vibe is much more prominent. Moreover, one may detect traces of Arcadian, Never Let Go and just about any Friday the 13th movie in the scary scheme, and maybe, if only for the sake of thematic reverse, Primate.   

The movie's core success, however, comes from Indy, who expresses himself in an identifiable and empathetic fashion. There's a diligence and urgency in this furry character, which makes him more interesting than most humans would have been in the same situation. Indy's inclusion is, therefore, a novelty, but that's fine. Sometimes it takes an unexpected, leading "man" to make one appreciate a familiar premise.

I suspect some won't give Good Boy the time of day, since the merging of far-removed genres may strike them as silly, but those inclined to dismiss it "ain't no friend of mine." This is a clever and fulfilling fable, worthy of any and all veneration it receives.