Paperhouse

Paperhouse presents an intensely entertaining fantasy/horror story of a young school girl ,Ana, enduring an illness, and experiencing a compelling fantasy that occurs when she is in the throes of the fevers brought on by her malady. She draws a house on paper, inhabited by a boy, who is also ill, and events occur in her febrile dreams which she tries to control with subsequent drawings. We get a rich and detailed insight into the girl's character as she tries to cope with two worlds in which she has serious problems to resolve. I really enjoyed Paperhouse from start to finish.

The film moves quickly and maintains an intense sense of adventure, and even some level of horror, that erupts every time Ana lapses into her dreams. I would say that the only real flaw in it is that the director seemed not to know just how to end it all. I would have preferred a tighter resolution. Still Paperhouse is well worthwhile.

The little actress who starred, did an excellent job. I understand this was her only film; one of those ironies of filmdom that is difficult to understand. She was really good. I wish this film would be released on DVD in the USA. I managed to tape it from cable but I would love to have it on DVD. I recommend that you watch Paperhouse if you see it playing.

I just watched this remarkable 1988 film which somehow managed to escape my attention previously. It may have been the Vestron distribution that worked against it - the company went under, and the film was not released on a mass scale.

I have not seen a "horror" film which involved children that impressed me as much as this since "Curse of the Cat People." "The Innocents" has just been knocked out of second spot by my viewing of this stylish film that puts "The Other" and "The Others" to shame.

The film concerns young British teen Anna, who suffers fainting spells, and in her dreams visits the house which she had drawn on paper. As the dreams go on, she meets a young male teen named Mark, whom she had drawn in the window on paper. At first she couldn't get to visit his room - he tells her she has to go back and draw the stairs.

I won't reveal more of the plot, it would be doing the film a great disservice, even though most viewers will probably be one step ahead. That's not a negative in this case, as it enables one to be more attentive to the production design of Gemma Jackson and the direction of Bernard Rose, which combine to depict incredibly stark visuals - there's no cheating with splashes of color and hazy or overlit photography that are often erroneously used to indicate a dreamlike state.

Charlotte Burke will tear at your emotions as Anna, a shame she made this her solo acting experience. Elliott Spiers is equally impressive as Mark, but he only made one more film. Glenne Headly - a New London, Connecticut native, does remarkably well in her role as Anna's mother, her accent is impeccable. This one is not to be missed.

Paperhouse is a unique film which captures the imagination of an eleven year old girl through her continuing nightmares. Throughout the movie, the scenes are carefully thought out and the production of the 'dream house' is of superb quality. The lifeless pencil drawings of Anna's are sprung into life with an obvious amount of realism.

The horror within the film can be established during the scenes in which Anna and her father meet. The darkness of the sky during the nightmare as well as the music, come together to create a chilling atmosphere. This film should be watched.

Anna (Charlotte Burke), who is just on the verge of puberty, begins to have strange dreams which start affecting her in real life--especially involving a boy named Mark (Elliott Spiers) who she meets in her dreams.

Very unusual fantasy with some truly terrifying moments. Despite the fact that this is about a teenage girl and has a PG-13 rating, this is NOT for children. Also, if you hate fantasies stay far away. But if you're game for something different this fits the bill.

Well directed by Bernard Rose with a just beautiful music score and a few nice, scary jolts. The only thing that prevents this from being a really great movie is Burke--she's not a very good actress (it's no surprise that this has been her only film) and it hurts the movie. However, everybody else is just great.

Spiers is very good as Mark; Glenne Headley (faking a British accent very well) is also very good as Anna's mother and Ben Cross is both frightening and sympathetic as Anna's father.

A sleeper hit when released in 1988, it's since faded away. That's too bad--it's really very good.

The best horror movie you've never heard of. Though calling it a horror may be selling it short. Paperhouse is a profound psychological drama that deftly deals with themes of growing up, regret, sorrow, loss, resentment and leaving childhood innocence behind. Director Bernard Rose made his feature debut with this film and truly gave us something for the ages. Shot in 1988 there is very little that dates Paperhouse and it has the lasting ability to make new impressions upon every new generation.

Liberally adapted from Catherine Storr's novel "Marianne Dreams" (and not the first live-action adaptation either) the film follows a girl called Anna who falls ill with glandular fever on her 11th birthday. She draws a house on a shred of paper from her exercise book and falls into a dream in which the house exists as a lonely structure on a desolate landscape. Each subsequent dream that she has is altered by the presence of whatever she adds to the picture. In her third dream she meets a boy she thinks she has created called Marc. She befriends him and their relationship becomes stronger as the dreams become darker and scarier.

Charlotte Burke who plays Anna is a terrific actress and it is very strange that, after just one film, she should disappear and never be in anything ever again. She really does give a great performance. Eliott Spiers died in 1994 giving his sorrowful performance as Marc, Anna's dreamworld friend, a bittersweet edge. But special mention has to be made of Hans Zimmer's wonderful score. Eerie, mysterious, joyful with a hint of sadness; his score to Paperhouse has it all. It sounds a little bit too close to main melody of Broken Arrow, but when it's this good who cares? Along with Total Recall, Paperhouse proves that architects of subversive dreamworlds existed in film long before Christopher Nolan made it Inception.