Paperhouse (1988)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Bernard Rose

Writers:

Catherine Storr (novel)
Matthew Jacobs (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 February 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

A drawing that became a dream. A dream that became reality.

Plot:

Anna is becoming lost in the loneliness of her own world when she discovers she can visit another, a...

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Fantasy World | Nightmare | House | Father

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Charlotte Burke	...	Anna Madden
Jane Bertish	...	Miss Vanstone
Samantha Cahill	...	Sharon
Glenne Headly	...	Kate Madden
Sarah Newbold	...	Karen (Anna's school friend)
Gary Bleasdale	...	Policeman
Elliott Spiers	...	Marc
Gemma Jones	...	Dr. Sarah Nicols
Steven O'Donnell	...	Dustman
Ben Cross	...	Dad Madden
Karen Gledhill	...	Nurse
Barbara Keogh	...	Hotel receptionist

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

West Germany:12 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Devon, England, UK

Company:

Working Title Films

Trivia:

When it was decided two days before the film was theatrically released that the character of Kate should be British, Canadian actress Glenne Headly had to very quickly dub all of her dialogue using an English accent.

Goofs:

Continuity: While in the car with her mother, Anna puts her father's telegram in her pocket twice.

Quotes:

Anna Madden: Dad!
Dad Madden: [stands in silence]
Anna Madden: Dad, come in, it's getting dark!
Dad Madden: Anna... is that you?
Anna Madden: Yes.
Dad Madden: [brandishes a claw hammer] I'm blind!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Animaniacs: Video Review/When Mice Ruled the Earth (#1.47)" (????)

A brilliant art/thriller/fantasy film

Anna (Charlotte Burke) develops a strange fever that causes her to pass out and drift off into a world of her own creation. A bleak world she drew with a sad little boy as the inhabitant of an old dumpy house in the middle of a lonely field. Lacking in detail, much like any child drawing the house and it's inhabitant Marc (who can't walk because Anna didn't draw him any legs) are inhabitants of this purgatory/limbo world. Anna begins visiting the boy and the house more frequently trying to figure what's what and in the process tries to help save the boy, but her fever is making it harder for her to wake up each time and may not only kill her, but trap her and Marc there forever.

Wow! Is a good word to sum up Bernard Rose's brilliantly haunting and poetic Paperhouse. A film that is so simple that it's damn near impossible to explain and impossible to forget. While you may find this puppy in your horror section it's anything but. It's more of a serious fantasy, expertly directed, and exceptionally well acted by it's cast, in particular Charlotte Burke and Elliot Speirs (Marc). And yet, it's not a children's movie either, but meant to make us remember those carefree days of old that are now just dark memories. Rose creates a rich tapestry of moody ambiance that creates a thrilling backdrop for the brilliant story and great actors to play with. Paperhouse stays away from trying to explain it's more dreamy qualities and leaves most things to the viewers imagination. There's much symbolism and ambiguity here to sink your teeth into. Paperhouse enjoys playing games with the viewers mind, engrossing you with it's very own sense of reasoning. As the story unfolded I was again and again impressed at just how powerful the film managed to be up to the finale which left me with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye.

Bernard Rose's visuals are brilliant here. He's able to create an unnervingly bleak atmosphere that appears simple on the surface, but as a whole is much greater than the sum of it's parts. The acting is of young Charlotte Burke in this, her feature debut, is a truly impressing as well. Unfortunately she's not graced the screen since. A much deserved Burnout Central award only seems proper for that performance. Toward the end the movie lags a bit here and there, but I was easily able to overlook it. I wished they had took a darker turn creating a far more powerful finale that would have proved to be all the more unnerving and truly riveting in retrospect. The movie as is, is still one for the books and deserves to be seen by any serious film lover. It's a poetic ride told through the innocent eyes of a child, a powerful film in which much is left to be pondered and far more to be praised.