October 13, 2025
Todd (Shane Jensen) brought his pet dog Indy to his late grandfather's house located in a wooded area in New Jersey. Todd is seriously ill with a chronic lung disease where he had violent coughing fits. He would only get occasional visits from his sister Vera (Ariel Freedman), who believed that this house was haunted. As Todd's condition worsened, Indy saw a tall sinister-looking figure covered with mud lurking in and around the house.
This horror film co-written and directed by Ben Leonberg is very unique in that the whole film was shot in the point of view of the pet dog Indy. Therefore we only see human characters at the level of their legs, even barely seeing their faces at all. The dialogue from the human characters is only treated as background noise, only establishing situations, not elucidate plot, since the dog does not really understand what they are saying anyway.
This original concept made this film completely engaging and fun to watch, especially for those who have a dog of their own at home. Leonberg cast his own a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Indy to be Todd's dog. It must have taken Leonberg a very long time, patiently waiting for Indy to have that perfect facial expression for the right emotion, or react just the perfect way to respond to the stimulus, and making sure the camera caught them.
I am sure a large part of Indy's acting was not exactly because he was an exceptionally talented dog actor. The "performance" we see on the big screen was because of Leonberg's astute camera work and meticulous editing of Indy's various random shots, picking out the right shots for the right situations. The illusion is then completed by the appropriate choices of sound effects and the eerie musical score by Sam Boase Miller.
One memorably harrowing scene was that Indy was chained down in the pouring rain, when suddenly a ghostly hand appeared and was pulling the chain and the dog into the doghouse. How Leonberg trained Indy to act frightened and figure out a way to get himself out of that trap was truly impressive. The final sequence had Indy running around the house and basement in an attempt to rescue his master out of danger. That was truly heartwarming to watch. 7/10
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