Bobby Tarling (Christina's House)



"It's a joke guys, come on."

- Bobby trying to lighten the mood during dinner

Bobby Tarling is one of the heroes from the 2000 Canadian mystery/horror film, Christina's House. He provides life-saving assistance to his injured father and captures the movie's psychotic villain Howie Rhodes. He is portrayed by Lorne Stewart.

Bobby is a thirteen year old Caucasian male. His usual attire is a tshirt and pants - both having solid colors. He sometimes wears a backwards baseball cap. His shoes are sneakers and his underwear is blue-white tartan boxer shorts. He has a father named James, a mother named Joanne, and a sixteen/seventeen year old sister named Christina. He lives in a rented country house with his father and sister. His mother is mentally ill and resides in a specialized institution. Bobby has a very easygoing and lighthearted personality. He enjoys making jokes and playing his portable handheld video game. He likes eating sandwiches and pizza.

During the film, Christina experiences numerous odd happenings in the house. Some of these include the following events: the sound of footsteps in the attic, her journal disappearing/reappearing with no logical explanation, a note stating danger posted on a chair in her room appears and then vanishes with no explanation. When Christina's journal disappears from her nightstand she openly and violently accuses Bobby of taking it. However, when it reappears in her nightstand she begins to feel that she may be becoming slowly insane just like her mother. Bobby tries to lighten the tensions caused by Christina's hysterics in the household by making jokes and brushing off her verbal abuse.

Bobby's heroism shines after the revelation that Howie is the sought-after serial killer. After Howie has everyone sealed up in the house, Bobby performs several heroic acts which include the following: throwing a hammer out the attic window to alert the sheriff outside that there is trouble happening inside the house, removing his father from a trap that looks like a makeshift cage covered with circular saw blades, and triggering the trapdoor that causes Howie to fall into the cage of saw blades.