Paperhouse

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Paperhouse

PG-13,

1988,

1h 32m,

Fantasy

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Watchlist

100%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

This dark psychological drama follows young Anna Madden (Charlotte Burke), a lonely British child who begins to inhabit the world that she draws in her sketchbook. When she creates a boy on paper, she later meets the same child, Marc (Elliott Spiers), in her dream realm. Things take a creepy turn when Anna draws her absentee father (Ben Cross), and he appears in her world as a menacing figure out to get her. Can Anna control this strange realm, or will she become a victim of it?

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

4/4

It is a thoughtfully written, meticulously directed fantasy in which the actors play their roles with great seriousness. Watching it, I was engrossed in the development of the story and found myself accepting the film's logic on its own terms.

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Tom Meek

Cambridge Day

Aug 28, 2020

3/4

[An] underrated dark horror flick...

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Adam Lippe

Examiner.com

Feb 28, 2012

The scenes of Anna running around mountains in a moment of escape or toward an enormous lighthouse don't have the feel of something whitewashed like The Sound of Music but rather the dark undercurrent of the delusions of the girls in Heavenly Creatures.

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Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality & Practice

Aug 28, 2004

5/5

A mesmerizing English film exploring the dreamscapes of a lonely eleven-year old girl.

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James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

Aug 26, 2004

4/5

A real sleeper: charming, scary, enthralling

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Nov 26, 2003

3/5

More peculiar than actually good.

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Finn P

Jan 3, 2019

a fascinating film which then kind of goes overboard but still worth watching.

Harry S

Oct 10, 2018

*Spoiler Warning* Not as sold on the quality of this one as some people are. I think the problem here is that it can't decide what it wants to be. When it starts off, it's set up to be a horror tale both by the eerie music which introduced the scenes of the house and the introduction of Anna's father which establishes him as dangerously violent. Once it finally gets to the horror aspect though, the film scraps that shortly afterwards and becomes a cheesy, emotionally manipulative film. If it was just going for that, I don't know why so much time was spent on building this film up to be horror. There are a few strengths in here though. I guess the buildup wasn't too bad. Also, I can admire the film for leaving the explanation of their imaginations ambiguous. Finally, the ending was a pretty good concept. However, I think it would've made more sense if her Dad pulled her back from the cliff, because this would've made for a more definitive conclusion to his character arc. I don't think these strengths outweigh everything I disliked about it though.

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Han M

Sep 12, 2018

4.5/5.0 stars - Grade: A-

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Bernard Rose

Director

Charlotte Burke

Anna Madden

Ben Cross

Dad Madden

Glenne Headly

Kate Madden

Elliott Spiers

Marc

Gemma Jones

Dr. Sarah Nicols

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Synopsis

This dark psychological drama follows young Anna Madden (Charlotte Burke), a lonely British child who begins to inhabit the world that she draws in her sketchbook. When she creates a boy on paper, she later meets the same child, Marc (Elliott Spiers), in her dream realm. Things take a creepy turn when Anna draws her absentee father (Ben Cross), and he appears in her world as a menacing figure out to get her. Can Anna control this strange realm, or will she become a victim of it?

Director: Bernard Rose
Producer: Sarah Radclyffe, Tim Bevan
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 4, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.7K
Runtime: 1h 32m
Sound Mix: Surround

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