A dog sniffs trouble in 'Good Boy'

Lovable canine steals the show in horror film that's ultimately more bark than bite.

- AMY NICHOLSON FILM CRITIC

INDY THE DOG plays himself opposite Shane Jensen's Todd in the experimental horror film “Good Boy,” about a pet who senses all is not well in his owner's home.

The lead of the horror-tinged heart-tugger “Good Boy” is a copper-colored retriever named Indy who pads around an eerie house deep in the New Jersey woods investigating its mysterious creaks, shadows and smells.

Like the Method-style actors of “The Blair Witch Project,” he goes by his real name onscreen.

An ordinary dog without a whiff of Hollywood hokum, Indy doesn’t do implausible stunts like Lassie or Rin Tin Tin or comprehend anything that his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), says besides simple phrases: sit, stay and, gratefully, the title itself. But we're invested in the mindset of this mundane hero. His nose twitches are as dramatic as an ingenue's gasp.

First-time feature director Ben Leonberg raised Indy as a pet first, movie star second. Along with his wife, Kari Fischer, who produced the film, Leonberg shot "Good Boy" in his weekend house, staging scenarios for Indy to explore until he had enough material for a (barely) full-length spook show. Even at 72 minutes, "Good Boy" is belabored in the middle stretch. It would make a fabulous one-hour TV special.