Goblin

In Goblin, a young mother finds herself challenged by an abusive husband, an obnoxious stepson, a nosy neighbor, and a very hungry creature that hides in the bushes beside her new home. Sara (Ashley Rene) and her young son, Sam (Houston Towe), are moving in with her violent, abrasive turd of a new husband, Danny (Joe Cummings), and his equally useless teen son Danny Jr. (Weston Banning). Sam is a sensitive, quiet, kind child, and Sara is a great mom who cares for her son above everything else. She’d never let him get in harm’s way, except, apparently, for marrying a creep like Danny. Of course, sadly, this arrangement doesn’t stretch the boundaries of disbelief, as we know this happens every day.

In their new neighborhood, pets are disappearing, angering the citizens, baffling animal control officers, and generally upsetting the peace of the bedroom community. Animal control explores several theories, including bears and alligators, but the giant piles of scat left behind where the family poodle used to be couldn’t have come from any ordinary animal. Things get weird on their first night when their bizarre neighbor, Elias (David Mason), arrives with a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift… and a warning. When people start turning into even larger piles of poo, the game is truly afoot.

Elias is in the know about goblins and whatnot, and of course, has arcane tomes of knowledge socked away at his place. He shows Sara paintings of babies being thrown into fires to appease the beast. What Elias doesn’t know, however, is that the goblin is just looking for snacks and friends. Sam and his dog are one or the other, and the fun is in finding out which.

“…a very hungry creature that hides in the bushes beside her new home.”

The best fun of a horror B movie is anticipating the demise of characters we hate, especially in a monster feature where you know people will die. When a character like Danny rolls up driving a giant pickup truck, sneering at his family like Caligula on a bad day, as an engaged viewer, you suddenly have a raison d’etre: watching this MF get his at the right time, in the right way, preferably as horribly as possible. Director Chris Lee and writer Rosa Parnake owe it to us, and we’re here for it. 

Goblin is as indie as it gets. Micro-budgeted, it was shot entirely on one low-cost Sony A7SII camera with native lenses. The cinematography by Ean Warren is startlingly good, given that fact. Running at a scant 72 minutes, the film is a quick thrill ride, and let’s face it, the cast and crew were not aiming high, but it’s good for what it is. It’s an afternoon popcorn (or even something more perception-bending) diversion. Blend up some domestic abuse and a cute but deadly, little CGI beastie, add in some gratuitous nudity and a geriatric Van Helsing neighbor across the street, shoot the whole thing on a prosumer level digital camera, et voila, Goblin!