Ben Leonberg’s characteristic directorial debut Good Boy gives a riveting haunted home story from a unique perspective, a film-making pattern that has been rising in recognition. Starring the proficient canine Indy in his on-screen debut, Good Boy breaks new floor in artistic horror by chronicling the vicious haunting of a dying man and his canine totally from the attitude of the canine.
As Hollywood has entered a brand new golden age of horror, an inflow of latest administrators have sought to push the boundaries of the standard horror subgenres. The willingness to discover uncharted waters has yielded horror films that stand toe-to-toe with the highest-rated films of every 12 months in terms of high quality storytelling and appearing performances.
Good Boy would be the newest horror film to discover a scary story from a singular perspective, nevertheless it’s removed from the primary. Unconventional protagonists have advanced right into a staple of recent horror, usually injecting life again into even essentially the most played-out horror subgenres. We have damaged down 11 of the easiest from the final 20 years, every of which locations the viewers within the footwear of an uncommon main character.
11
Good Boy (2025)
One of many components that makes Good Boy so riveting is not simply the digital camera perspective of following round a canine, viewing the creepiest eventualities from decrease than regular and shifting faster. It is the truth that director Ben Leonberg juxtaposes what Indy sees versus what his proprietor sees.
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Good Boy – Key Evaluate Scores |
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RT Tomatometer |
RT Popcornmeter |
Metacritic Metascore |
IMDB Rating |
Letterboxd Rating |
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92% |
87% |
71/100 |
6.5/10 |
3.2/10 |
It is lengthy been theorized that canine have a sixth sense that permits them to interpret the world round them by way of a special lens than individuals. Scientifically, it is the aspect impact of getting way more acute scent and listening to talents. Good Boy takes it to that further dimension anyway by exhibiting the evil entity that haunts the home solely to Indy for a lot of the film, ratcheting up the horror for the viewers.
10
Enamel (2007)
The shockingly well-reviewed Enamel is technically a horror-comedy, nevertheless it’s performed pretty straight regardless of its absurd premise. It is a sensible depiction of the people legend medical situation generally known as vagina dentata, which refers to a vagina that’s ringed by dying. The legendary implication is that intercourse with a lady with the situation will end in ugly harm for the male companion, an idea that Enamel explores intimately.
Enamel‘s protagonist is a younger girl with the aforementioned situation, making her concurrently the heroine and the monster within the story. The narrative sees her evolve from a timid spokesperson for a Christian abstinence group to a confident crusader who makes use of her situation to ship justice to males with evil intentions.
9
In A Violent Nature (2024)
Whereas different films have proven the perspective of a killer earlier than, In a Violent Nature supplied one thing really distinctive by having the digital camera comply with round a mute, monstrous, undead killer within the model of Jason Voorhees/Michael Myers. For nearly its complete runtime, In a Violent Nature sticks with a killer named Johnny, as he exacts vengeance on a gaggle of teenagers for the theft of a locket from his grave.
Because the viewers, we are supposed to empathize with Johnny, whose childlike motivation and thoughts makes {that a} affordable notion. It additionally gives a first-hand, uninterrupted view of a number of the most brutal and graphic kills in latest reminiscence, offering an fascinating juxtaposition for the viewers as we stroll across the woods with Johnny.
8
Maniac (2012)
Franck Khalfoun’s Maniac makes use of perspective to nice impact with its protagonist, a schizophrenic serial killer portrayed by Elijah Wooden. The kicker is that the film is shot from his character Frank’s literal perspective. The viewers is in Frank’s footwear as he brutalizes and scalps girls to recreate a particular picture of his mom from mannequins; we solely see Wooden as Frank in reflections.
What the film lacks in suspense (we all know what’s coming always), it makes up for with sheer gore. From Frank’s eyes, we see every savage homicide and gut-churningly detailed scalping up shut and private.
7
Companion (2025)
We’re first launched to Sophie Thatcher’s Iris as a younger girl in a loving relationship, prepared for a weekend on the lake together with her boyfriend’s associates. That complete narrative adjustments shortly, as we study that Iris is in truth an ultra-advanced companion robotic, whose complete character is managed by an app from her boyfriend’s telephone.
Over the course of the film we uncover that the people round Iris, particularly her “boyfriend” Josh, are evil and merciless, whereas Iris is totally a sufferer of Josh’s scheming and twisted need for management. As soon as free of his management and given full self-autonomy, we cheer alongside as Iris avenges Josh’s mistreatment of her and the others on the lakehouse who stood in his method.
6
Unusual Darling (2023)
Unusual Darling earned rave evaluations for its non-linear technique of storytelling, with the widespread warning to enter the film with as little data as attainable. That is as a result of the film’s protagonist (Willa Fitzgerald), labeled solely as “The Woman”, begins as a sufferer fleeing from a killer (Kyle Gallner) earlier than the narrative reveals that she is in truth a serial killer generally known as “The Electrical Woman”.
Director JT Mollner’s stunning cinematography and extremely intelligent story association primarily shifts the hero based mostly on which a part of the story you are watching. The central determine is at all times The Woman, however whether or not she is a sufferer, the hero, or a monster adjustments because the film progresses.
5
Presence (2025)
Director Steven Soderbergh Sundance Movie Pageant submission Presence is so simple as they get: a household below strain from varied crises strikes right into a home inhabited by a mysterious invisible entity. The hook is that we observe all the film from the first-hand perspective of the entity, hiding in closets, floating objects across the room, and making noises because it does.
Presence ends with a intelligent twist, because the entity’s identification is finally revealed with a singular interpretation of how a home involves be haunted. Proper up till that time although, the film leaves it to the viewers to determine the motivations of the entity whose invisible pores and skin they put on all through its runtime.
4
Uncooked (2016)
The French physique horror film Uncooked is much like Enamel in that the film’s monster is in truth the protagonist, or reasonably what the protagonist evolves into. School freshman Justine enters veterinary faculty as a lifelong vegetarian, however after being compelled to eat uncooked rabbit kidneys in a hazing ritual, she begins to crave human flesh.
Whereas cannibalism is an oft-visited trope in horror (physique horror particularly), Uncooked exhibits us the attitude of a younger girl as she undergoes the method of turning into one. It is an uncommon perspective that helps Uncooked stand out within the physique horror house.
3
Skinamarink (2022)
Skinamarink is among the many extra divisive horror films lately, in that individuals both appear to find it irresistible or utterly hate it. The dilemma attracts from the film’s perspective, which is extraordinarily troublesome to interpret; it is instructed from the attitude of a small little one, and appears to be extremely unreliable. The all-dark setting actually would not assist, as the youngsters within the film are trapped in a home with no doorways or home windows.
Seeing issues from the attitude of a kid that’s bafflingly not terrified at varied factors of the film is unquestionably unusual, and Skinamarink‘s pitch-black, supernatural vibe makes it all of the extra vexing.
2
Noticed X (2023)
After nearly twenty years of Tobin Bell’s John “Jigsaw” Kramer torturing and killing people he believes to be unworthy of the present of life that he and his unborn little one have been denied, Noticed X reintroduced John Kramer earlier on in his life earlier than the occasions of the unique Noticed. At the moment, he was a way more sympathetic character, as he was misled by a rip-off whereas looking for therapy for his terminal most cancers.
Noticed X making a longtime villain in John Kramer the true heroic protagonist is actually unconventional, nevertheless it looks like it took a step down some fertile floor for storytelling. The Predator franchise is about to do one thing comparable with Predator: Badlands in November 2025, pivoting the franchise’s ultra-lethal alien hunter from the enemy of humanity to the hero of its personal story.