Rent Paperhouse (1988)
3.3 of 5 from 90 ratings
1h 29min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Ben Cross and Glenne Headly star as the parents of troubled 11 year old Anna (Charlotte Burke) in this nightmarish fantasy thriller. Anna's disturbing adventures begin when a house she sketched on paper eerily comes to life in a recurring dream. Bedridden with a fever, the imaginative and lonely child becomes obsessed with her drawing when she discovers that she can manipulate the course of her dreams by adding to her picture. As Anna deliriously plunges deeper and deeper into her fantasy world, she becomes convinced that her drawings have begun to control and perhaps destroy her life. Her fever escalates, and the thin line between real and imagined blurs until Anna becomes trapped in a terror-filled nightmare, fearful that she won't escape alive. - Actors:
- Charlotte Burke, Jane Bertish, Samantha Cahill, Glenne Headly, Sarah Newbold, Gary Bleasdale, Elliott Spiers, Gemma Jones, Steven O'Donnell, Ben Cross, Karen Gledhill, Barbara Keogh
- Directors:
- Bernard Rose
- Producers:
- Tim Bevan, Sarah Radclyffe
- Writers:
- Catherine Storr, Matthew Jacobs
- Studio:
- Columbia Tristar
- Genres:
- Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch Next If You Liked The Babadook
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Reviews (1) of Paperhouse
Really skill horror fantasy! - Paperhouse review by NP
‘This looks like a really skill place to play hide and seek,’ says our heroine about a deserted railway station at one point. Why don’t people talk like that anymore?
Anna Madden (Charlotte Burke) suffers from persecution at school, feinting fits and a mother who displays some of the most wooden acting in the film. Bored and off school, she retreats into drawings. Her dad (Ben Cross) is away a lot, and occupies her dreams - but not as her charming, benevolent father.
The imagery is the winner here . The swirling, delirious story premise swims from tragedy to child-nightmare to life-affirming, with only occasional moments where the sometimes awkward acting prevents things from becoming as emotionally moving as they might have been. A nicely directed dark fantasy.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.