A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: A new horror movie with an unlikely star has been captivating film critics.
(SOUNDBITE OF INDY BARKING)
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, that's the trailer for "Good Boy," where the main character is a dog. Yeah, you heard that right. In the film, a dog and his human, Todd, move to a creaky old house in the woods that is clearly haunted. The dog, Indy, can tell something's very wrong, but Todd tries to reassure him.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOOD BOY")
SHANE JENSEN: (As Todd) Come on, bud. Let's go. Come on, scaredy pants.
MARTÍNEZ: I had the opportunity to meet Indy when he came by our NPR studios in Culver City, California.
BEN LEONBERG: So nice to meet you. I'm Ben. This is Indy.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, beautiful dog. His owner, Ben Leonberg, gave him a ride. He also happens to be the director of "Good Boy." Leonberg says he didn't see centering a dog's perspective in a horror film as such a big leap.
LEONBERG: So many ghost stories and haunted house films, especially, they're kind of about our relationship to, in some cases, death, you know, the afterlife. And so frequently, we learn about mortality through our pets.
MARTÍNEZ: While there's plenty of dog stories out there, Leonberg says, there hasn't really been a horror movie with a dog as the main character.
LEONBERG: Dogs, compared to people, do have supernatural senses, by what we would define them. They have a sense of smell and hearing, and they see the world so differently than we do. And that's, like, a little bit by design. I mean, a reason to have a dog is that they bark when someone's at the front...
MARTÍNEZ: Right. Yeah.
LEONBERG: ...Door or, like, you know, going way back in time, cats would eat mice and dogs would fend off predators or whatever. So there is a reason they have those behaviors and those abilities, if that's what you want to call them. And it's just the human imagination that kind of fills in the blanks and turns it into a horror movie.
MARTÍNEZ: Indy is with us, as we mentioned.
LEONBERG: Yes.
MARTÍNEZ: Tell us about Indy. Tell us Indy's whole story 'cause I'm fascinated by the whole thing.
LEONBERG: Sure. So Indy is my wife and I's dog. We got him not thinking he would be a movie star.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
LEONBERG: We just got him to be our friend. And he's now 8 years old, so this is the role of a lifetime for him. He loves to have a job. He was able to learn that when we got the camera out, it meant he's supposed to do something. The same...
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
LEONBERG: ...Way that some dogs will see a leash and think, now's time for a walk, he learned that the camera meant, you know, Mom and Dad are going to ask me to do something, and then every day, it would be a little bit different to actually get all the footage we needed. For the more scary, tense scenes, it's all tricks of filmmaking to get what looks like a performance.
MARTÍNEZ: So that's what I was wondering, too, because, yeah, there are some very scary, intense scenes. I'm thinking, man, he's putting his dog in this situation. I mean, it's - I mean, for some people, it's like putting your child in a situation like that, that's scary. People wouldn't want to do that. I mean, did you ever wonder, like, is this going to hurt Indy somehow?
LEONBERG: So the reality of making the movie is much more hilarious than it appears in the film. We owe a huge debt to the sound and music team that really bring that vibe that makes it feel as spooky as it does. Indy's never really afraid. If anything, Indy's slightly curious. And what we're engaging to get those shots where it looks like Indy is staring vexed into a corner, detecting something the human eye can't see, what's happening in reality is that my wife and I are off camera making silly noises at him or holding a piece of food, and he looks serious and he has a neutral expression. And then the filmmaking, you know, the shot-reverse shot tells the audience how to feel. People will ask, you know, how did you get him to look afraid? And the truth is, he's not afraid. You're afraid...
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
LEONBERG: ...And you're projecting your own feelings onto him.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Now, I've been paying a lot of attention to the online conversations around this film.
LEONBERG: Sure.
MARTÍNEZ: I ran out of ways to count how many people say, I'm interested in seeing "Good Boy." I want to see "Good Boy," as long as nothing happens to Indy. It's tough to talk about this film without kind of going into spoiler territory for the people that are - that want to see it but also are worried about Indy in the film getting hurt.
LEONBERG: Yeah. I mean, dogs are totally innocent in a way that a person almost never can be, so we feel so intensely for them. And, I mean, I think that reaction speaks to, I hope, the strength of the concept. And also, I think, how trained people are and horror fans are to expect what normally happens to dogs and horror movies, and they don't usually make it out of Act I. This is a story entirely told for the dog's perspective. So he's there for all the ups and downs of the story and in the making of the film, getting that performance and having fun doing it. And Indy's comfort was of the utmost importance, and he's happily here sleeping on my feet right now.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
LEONBERG: So, you know, he's in the movie, and we told it from his perspective. But, yeah, we are certainly aware of the intensity of how much people are invested in seeing his story and how it plays out.
MARTÍNEZ: That is Ben Leonberg, who directed and co-wrote the film "Good Boy," which stars his dog, Indy, who is sitting right there at his feet. Ben and Indy, thank you for coming in.
LEONBERG: Thanks for having us.
MARTÍNEZ: And you can see "Good Boy" in theaters nationwide starting Friday. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
