‘Good Boy’ is ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’ brought to life
Like an unsettling silhouette in a pitch black room—only to be later revealed as a stack of laundry—horror has and will always be only scary until the reveal. The idea of Valak in “Conjuring 2” is much more terrifying than Valak itself. What made Pennywise such a menacing figure in “It” wasn’t how he particularly looked (unless you have a fear of clowns), but with how he operated in plain sight, building tension through the constant dread that he could strike anytime, anywhere, and at any moment.
Tension is the name of the game for horror. It challenges directors to artistically build it, while constantly reinventing how that tension is resolved—the scare. Yes, a traditional jump scare will work for a few times, but overuse it, and it becomes predictable and unimaginative. The key is to subvert audience expectation. Take out the scare from where it’s expected and place it where they least expect it, where they feel “safe”—because that just amplifies the horror, so to speak.
“The budgets are not extravagant, so you’re able to be a little risky. [Horror] is one of the few theatrical avenues right now where you can be surprised,” says “Weapons” director Zach Cregger in an interview with Collider when asked about how the genre is able to continuously grow and evolve through the years.
His fate rests on his paws
Just this year, new horror titles such as “Weapons,” “Sinners,” “Together,” and “Companion” have taken the genre to new heights—showcasing different premises and perspectives outside of the usual ghouls and jump scares. Joining this new age of horror is Ben Leonberg’s directorial debut “Good Boy,” which tells the story of your typical haunting, but from the perspective of man’s best friend.
The film, which earlier debuted at this year’s SXSW (South by Southwest) Film & TV Festival, follows Indy and his owner Todd (Shane Jensen), who experience an unexpected haunting after moving into a new countryside home.
The catch? Todd can’t see the otherworldly visitors tormenting their household, so it becomes Indy’s responsibility to save the day.
It’s pretty much “Courage the Cowardly Dog” brought to life. After all, dogs are believed to be able to see and detect the supernatural, or the unseen. And the film answers exactly what happens when our pet dogs stare at blank walls or empty spaces, bark at “nothing,” or suddenly go into high alert without warning.
When life imitates art
According to an interview with Variety, Leonberg, who is also the real-life owner of Indy, says that filming “Good Boy” was akin to shooting a documentary. It was like Indy was made to play himself.
“Most films that feature dog performers have doubles, triples, or quadruples of the main dog, so they can make a full 12-hour shooting day,” he explains. “We were only working with Indy. That meant, by necessity, [that] the film had to be spread out over a long period of time, with a production more akin to the way people make documentaries—following a subject through their life.”
Throughout three years, he and his wife, who is also a producer on the film, weren’t making Indy “act.” Instead, they would guide him through specific scenarios and circumstances that would elicit the performance they wanted. “He’s not listening to specific commands. It’s more of me creating a set of circumstances where he will react in a way that is going to look like a performance,” he explains.
Leonberg shares that for a scene where Indy is seemingly tilting his head while looking at a blank wall, he simply gave Indy a command that he didn’t understand—hence the retriever’s visible confusion.
Following the film’s SXSW premiere, “Good Boy” was acquired by Shudder, a US-based horror streaming service available Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The film is also set for theatrical release this Oct. 3 in the US. Unfortunately, there are no known plans for international screenings, but we can only hope that the rest of the world gets to meet this good boy.
