Many horror stories stem from a bad idea. Here is an example: a pregnant woman wants to experience a home birth, but her home is a cabin in the middle of nowhere—deep in the woods—and her due date falls in the dead of winter. A character in *Goody Goody* with extensive experience in these matters makes it clear to the expectant mother that this is a terrible and potentially dangerous plan. Predictably, she decides to go ahead with it anyway.
On the other hand, some horror movies that kick off with a bad idea manage to be effective. We simply have to accept that Goody (Samantha Robinson) is determined to give birth in a cabin—an accurate description, though it undersells the house's actual size—located in the woods and, possibly (or rather probably, given the genre), amidst harsh weather. Furthermore, she is stubborn enough to get everyone to agree to her plan, despite their reservations.
Director: Raymond Creamer
Writer: Raymond Creamer
Stars: Samantha Robinson, Colleen Foy, Zoe Renee
Admittedly, this is a rather flimsy pretext for writer-director Raymond Creamer to place his characters in this situation—where the storm outside only exacerbates the misfortune unfolding inside. However, we should cut the first-time feature filmmaker some slack and stop dwelling on just how bad the idea actually is. Even Goody herself realizes it at one point. It may be too late for her or anyone else to fix the problem, but at least it counts for something.
Here, everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. The story builds tension from the very beginning: Goody awaits the arrival of her first child while sitting in a large bathtub—or perhaps a small pool—filled with water, as those around her sense that something is amiss. Beside the expectant mother are her husband, Jayson (Colby Hollman)—who masks his anxiety with words of encouragement—and his sister, Candace (Zoe Renee), whose presence serves primarily as moral support and, when the situation worsens beyond standard labor complications, provides some comic relief.
Crucially, however, Sarah (Colleen Foy)—a close friend of the couple and a professional midwife—is also present; she is the only character who firmly points out that Goody’s plan could endanger both her life and that of her baby. An explanatory flashback—appearing after Creamer has hooked us with the screams of labor pain and the initial setup—reaffirms what we already knew but clarifies that Sarah opposes the cabin idea, agreeing to it only because she knows her friend would go through with it regardless.
This type of redundant storytelling abounds—perhaps simply because Creamer painted himself into a corner with a situation so complex that the script ends up going in circles. The labor continues, but—to Sarah’s bewilderment and growing dread—the process seems to suddenly reverse itself. She is reluctant to cause unnecessary alarm, yet Jayson struggles to hide his panic after the midwife (whom he had asked not to act as if the world were ending) informs him that, in this specific instance, the world actually *is* ending.
It takes some time for the story to reach this point; until then, the characters remain in a state of narrative limbo, as there is little to say about them—and little they can do—while Goody undergoes the arduous, albeit static, process of a water birth. Eventually, Sarah tells Jayson they must prepare to head to the hospital; yet, even though the tension has been built on the mounting fear surrounding a very real situation, it is at this juncture that Creamer decides such terror is not enough.
The answers regarding why Goody is giving birth under such perilous conditions may not be entirely satisfying and might require a degree of resignation, but once the film enters the realm of the supernatural, it leaves us with nothing but questions. The consequences of the unfolding events are clear: from the presence of something in the woods to the revelation that the newborn might be something beyond human comprehension—or something transcending the earthly plane. The film also delivers a series of jump scares and scenes of visceral horror—complete with blood and gore—that, while predictable, are well-executed thanks to the practical effects used to create them.
Unfortunately, revealing more details about the nature of these images would give away *Goody Goody*’s hand. In other words, there isn't much mystery to speak of, and the anticlimactic resolution makes one wonder how much thought actually went into it from the start.
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