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Written by: Alex Cannon & Ben Leonberg
Directed by: Ben Leonberg
Starring: Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
A loyal dog moves to a rural family home with his owner, only to discover supernatural forces lurking in the shadows. As dark entities threaten his human companion, the brave pup must fight to protect the one he loves most.
Verdict
I love this movie. It's a creative concept, and the movie executes if flawlessly. The dog is great, both the character and performance. The movie is creepy from the beginning with an ominous sense of foreboding that wants to pull you into the shadows. Being from the dog's point of view, we get no exposition, just a rudimentary understanding of what's happening. The dog doesn't know, so we don't know, yet I always imagined I knew what the dog was thinking. I was concerned about how this would end, but the movie delivers.
Watch It.
Review
I love any gimmick movie, and with the point of view from a dog I was curious to see what this did with the concept. The very first scene is foreboding, and it's difficult not to like a movie that shows you a puppy growing up. From there, the focus is on the dog. It's easy to start assigning emotions to and imagine what Indy is thinking.
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| Indy plays Indy |
Indy and his owner move to a rural house where there seems to be something lurking in the shadows. We see a shadow that has to be more than that. Then Indy's owner talks about how people always thought the house was haunted. It's an ominous revelation, and the movie has great tension. We know something is coming.
Just thirty minutes in I really liked this. Without exposition, this has to rely fully on the visual story. It's also creepy. Indy sees a red bandana that belonged to the previous dog. We know that dog is no longer around. What does that insinuate? Is the lurking shadow after Indy, his owner, or both? You could also read this as some kind of metaphor. Indy's owner has cancer or something debilitating. Is the lurking shadow a feeling more than a physical presence?
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| Indy plays Indy |
Indy is lured into the basement. We don't know what happened, but it looks like Indy wrestled this monster. If so, how did he escape? Indy is then chained outside. The owner seemed to really care for Indy, and this seems like quite the change. Is it the shadow's influence or a result of the owner's fatigue from treatment? I felt bad for Indy, left out in the rain. I've been watching and rooting for this dog the entire movie. As if that's not bad enough, the shadow comes for Indy who has no way to escape.
This movie is great, and I'm surprised I didn't hear more about it. I love the craft in making a movie like this. It's such a creative idea, and the movie does an excellent job from set up, to pauses, to pay offs. This movie is in complete control. Indy is amazing, and it's all the more surprising that a dog delivered that performance.
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