User reviews

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.

A great film this, and a shame that it will receive little attention outside of arthouse circles and students who stay up until two in the morning to watch it on Channel Four.

The plot is a simple one but works very effectively, the blurring between child-like fantasy and hard-hitting nightmare is very well blurred. The budget looks pretty low, but to the credit of those involved it doesn't show too often. It also hasn't dated that much either.

I was lucky enough to tape this off the telly when it was on a few years ago, and it has withstood half-a-dozen viewings. It's one of those films that won't appeal to all; though as usual, those with a more thoughtful approach to cinema would get a lot out of this.

Charlotte Buerke puts in a good performance as Anna, the spoilt brat and it is a shame she seems to have gone from the acting scene. Cross is also very good, carrying the stature of his character very well within the context of the picture.

There are some genuinely (and I don't say that lightly) disturbing moments in this film, both half-second shockers and more drawn-out tensions. Watch it with the lights out!

Highly recommended.

9/10

This is a wonderfully written and well acted psychological drama. It is not really a horror flick so those looking for something like The Ring or The Grudge will be disappointed. What really surprised me about this film was the intelligence and subtle attention to detail in the plot and the effort made to be internally consistent. I also appreciated the absence of Dr. Phil psychobabble or New Age revisionism. Rather than advancing an agenda, the filmmakers just told the story, told it well and let the viewer think about it. The sparse dreamscapes were reminiscent of Wyeth paintings and amazingly effective.

A great example of how to make a good film on a small budget, without big studios, star actors, big-name directors (this was far better than many of Hitchcock's films), special effects or "clever" plot twists.

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.

I picked this up hoping for an interesting horror flick that didn't follow the standard MO of horror films. While this movie is pretty unique it is also very, very boring. The main character is a bad actor, and overall it just doesn't hold your attention. In some of the shots you can see the start of what would later become Candyman but overall this isn't very scary or entertaining.

5 out of 10 for trying to do something different, but different does not equal better.

My friend and I picked "Paperhouse" out of a random pile of movies on our weekly excursion to the Horror section-- neither of us had heard of it, but the blurb on the box was really promising. And the movie didn't disappoint, though I still probably wouldn't call it a horror movie exclusively.

11-year old Anna Madden draws a house, and visits it in her dreams. She is definitely asleep when she's seeing the house, but it's so real in a sense that it's almost like a completely separate reality. Which, in view of later events, doesn't seem like a far cry from the truth. Anyhow, she finds she can add to the house, its contents and its surroundings by simply adding to the picture.

While this is going on, Anna is getting increasingly more ill with a fever, and besides that is getting totally obsessed with the house and her drawing. On top of that, she and her mother are also dealing with her absent father; he has a job that takes him away for long stretches, though one gets the impression there's actually more to the story than that.

OK, so the drawing stuff sounds nice enough-- but frankly there's something really menacing about it. The dreamworld is eerily surreal -- the house, for instance, is just a grey block in the middle of a desolate field. The folks who made the movie did a great job of making us very uncomfortable with this alternate world/ongoing dream...

One of the things Anna adds to the house is a boy, Mark, who seems to be the same patient her doctor keeps talking about (I'm not giving that away, you know from the moment he appears that it's the same kid). In reality, Mark can't walk due to an illness; in Anna's drawing-world, he can't walk because she didn't draw him any legs. She blames herself for his real-life illness, and tries to rectify the situation, but... everything starts getting really weird. She even brings her absent father into the drawing, with disastrous results. The bits with the father are really terrifying.

I don't want to give anything away, so I'll stop there... There seems to be a lot going on in this film. I'm sure you'll have a ball analyzing this thing do death with your pals after you watch it-- Is it a simple a story as it seems, or are there actually layers of meaning? I don't know, but either way it's quite fascinating. There was a "Nightmare On Elm Street"-ish quality about it, in that at a certain point reality and dreams intersect. I love things like that.

My only complaint is that it feels like it COULD have ended many times, but didn't. I'm satisfied with the ending it had (some of you sensitive types might want to have Kleenex handy!), though it really could have a variety of conclusions. Anyway, it doesn't exactly feel drawn out once it's actually over, but while you're watching and it keeps fading back in, it's a little nerve wracking.

Still, "Paperhouse" is a really GOOD film. It's well done, and acting-- especially Charlotte Burke as Anna-- is top notch. Burke, who has never before or since appeared in a film, is a real gem. I don't know why she never went onto do anything else, but either way she's really convincing and enjoyable to watch.

"Paperhouse" isn't exactly a horror movie, it's sort of a fantasy/suspense/something else type of movie, with some definite horroresque moments-- but you can still watch it with your family and not be worried that your little brother or grandmother will get grossed out by blood splashing or something.

Give it a chance, you won't regret it! And maybe you should read the book, too...

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.

"Paperhouse" is a bit of a lost classic. It comes from a time when movies dared to be original and edgy. When characters didn't have to be black and white, when even your lead actress didn't necessarily have to be a person that it's very easy to identify with.

From what I'm told the story is based on a children's book. This movie, however, is clearly for adults. Though not full on horror, "Paperhouse" is too dark and scary for children. Director Bernard Rose clearly made the movie on a shoe string budget, but still manages to create an atmosphere of constant unease.

One time movie actress Charlotte Burke plays her role convincingly as does the rest of the cast (though Glenne Headly's overdubbed English accent sounds awkward and out of place). The real highlight, however, are the eerie score and the beautiful cinematography, sometimes reminiscent of a less colourful Dario Argento movie.

In the end, "Paperhouse" is plodding on a bit and from today's perspective some scenes seem dragged out. Still, it's a movie well-worth checking out that deserves much more recognition than it ever got.

This was a disappointing horror film about a snotty young girl and her nightmares. For a horror or "thriller" film and hype, it's way too tame. There are only a few tense moments in here, not anywhere as near as many as should have been for a film of this genre. Even those "tense" scenes weren't much. The music made them more dramatic that they actually were.

There is a lot of symbolism in here, so the elitist critics label this "a thinking person's horror film." Well, if they think about it, I'm sure they will come to the same conclusion I did - a waste of money at the video rental store.

Summary: a yawner that offers an unlikeable lead character and generally poor acting. Vastly overrated and certainly not what it is advertised.

On the day of her birthday, Anna (Charlotte Burke) plays a prank at school and is expelled from the classroom. Out of the blue, she faints, and her mother Kate (Glenne Headly) is summoned by the principal. While driving to the doctor, Anna tells her mother that her fainting was fake and that she misses her father that is travelling. Kate returns to the school with Anna and after class, Anna meets her friend Sharon (Samantha Cahill) and they play hide and seek. Anna faints again in a basement, and the police seek her out and bring her home. Dr. Sarah Nicols (Gemma Jones) sees that she has fever and while Anna sleeps, she dreams with the house she had drawn in a piece of paper and meets a disabled boy called Marc (Elliott Spiers) at the window. The feverish Anna continues to dream, blending her drawings and reality with dreams that becomes nightmares.

"Paperhouse" is an original fantasy-horror movie with a subtle drama. The plot is different, with good acting and few special effects. Charlotte Burke only performance was very promising. The boy Elliott Spiers unfortunately had a tragic end in 1994 with life imitating Art. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Casa dos Sonhos" ("The House of the Dreams")

An intriguing premise of hand-drawn fantasy come to life in a child's fever dreams. However, I imagine the average nonfictional child is far more adept at scaring themselves than Bernard Rose is at riveting the viewer. The duel between Anna's two realities drags on far too long to sustain interest, especially considering that the little girl playing her is the most abrasive child actor I've ever seen.

Use only for kindling.

I was absolutely stunned while watching this fantasy/horror film. The original plot has Anna (an eleven year old girl with glandular fever) sketching the crude drawing of a house during the opening scene. As her fever worsens, she repetedly dreams of the same house on an open field. In her dreams the house is brilliantly lit and looks like a real child's drawing, which I found a rather frightening image. Anna dreams of adventures in the house with a boy named Marc, and these adventures turn more sinister as her illness becomes more serious. There seems to be a link between her illness and the evil she must confront in the house, but like many things in this movie, this is only hinted at.

In many ways I found this movie better than the book, Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. Although the novel does contain some subtle horror, it is basically for children. However, the movie offers some real scares as well as an underlying atmosphere of suppressed horror. There is something unnerving in the scenes when Anna is exploring the empty house that is difficult to put your finger on.

Perhaps the reason this amazing film wasn't a huge commercial success was because it's difficult to determine it's intended audience. While the character of Anna might appeal to preteens, some scenes (in particular the one when the father tries to break into the house with a hammer) are far too intense for young children. Most adults will be put off by the plot, but if they're at all interested in child or dream psycology, or just want to see something different, I'd throughly reccomend it.

If you're wondering how „Inception" could look , if it was a horror movie (that was the original idea ) , „Paper house" gives you a little hint . This movie is obviously not as complex as Nolan's blockbuster , but you still should give it a chance . Especially if you're a fan of intelligent horror movie (which is so hard to find). There is some similarity here to "Pan's labyrinth" and "The Shinning".

At first it may seem that "PH" is a family friendly entertainment when you look at the summary of the movie . Well , it's not . I'm not saying this is a violent movie , but it's definitely for adults . The mood is very creepy and the whole story surprisingly has a lot of sadness in it. For the first time in my life I saw a horror that actually had a heart . Some might even say "PH" is more of a psychological drama instead of horror . Was it real ? Was it only imagination of Anne ? Maybe it was some kind of telephatic link between her and Mark ? Or maybe she's got mental problems ? Who knows . I know that I cared about both heroes and the ending is beautifully bittersweet.

Charlotte Burke gives a great performance and I'm surprised she didn't became a star . She makes Anne a very complex character for a child – innocent , annoying , vulnerable and likable. The rest of the cast is good . "PH" doesn't have a big budget since it wasn't made by one of the big studios. Still , the art-direction is very decent . Hans Zimmer and Stanley Myers provide a terrific atmospheric score that is worthy of an Oscar . The directing is good . "Paper house " can be psychologically very intense at times and touching at other moments.

Good movie . It's hard to find it , but it's worth the effort . I give it 7/10.

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.

I like movies that veer between fantasy , dreams and reality and often blur the lines in between. Prior to this movie, I had just watched the excellent indie film Living In Oblivion which very craftily executed the aforementioned shtick and so I was hungry for recommendations.

This movie somewhat popped up in some of the websites offering similar films and thought I would give it a try. First off, I will lay down the main hook of the film: it's excellent cinematography. Excellent lighting, excellent panoramic shots of landscapes all serving to immerse the viewer in the dream like environment. The background music( performed by then still relatively obscure Hans Zimmer) really helped accentuate that ethereal quality. There was really a lot of inspiration that I felt was taken from the filming style of the great Andreii Tarkovsky. So if you like his films' look or in general you just want to see some good images while not caring too much of the plot, I would possibly recommend this.

But that's where all the positive features end. This film has literally nothing to offer beyond the good cinematography. The story could have been interesting but just turned out to be flat. I felt I could draw comparisons to Pan's Labyrinth, which was also about a girl going through different dream like scenarios, but the latter had an effective story to tell with a lot of visual subliminal imagery. There's none of that here, There's no tension, no proper character development, none to keep me emotionally invested in a film that's supposed to be about dreams. I really couldn't bother to feel empathy for the main girl character as I had felt in Pan's Labyrinth. She really had nothing to be saddened or stressed about: no philandering selfish mother or abusive father or bullying peers (plot points that usually help to make you feel sorry for the character). Everything just turns right for her. And god, the child actor for the lead role was just so bad and lifeless. She absolutely had no charisma or any form of onscreen presence.

Overall, it's sort of sad that they got to hire such an excellent cinematographer for such a shallow film

I do miss the company Vestron, they sure had their finger on the pulse of unique and unusual cinema back in the 1980s. This is very apparent with the astonishing Paperhouse, a film that touches me deeply each and every time I watch it.

The idea of a girl manipulating a dream world with her drawings (thusly the dream world manipulating reality), and also connecting with and affecting the life of a boy she's never actually met, is fascinating and never disappoints. Charlotte Burke at first seems quite precocious and yet you warm up to her because by being a bit of a mischievous child, it makes it hard for the adults to believe what she is experiencing. She becomes very self aware and strong towards the end, even finding she doesn't "hate boys" as she so defiantly claimed at first. Through this we are treated to many touching moments and some immensely scary ones, all visually stunning with a grand score from Hans Zimmer. I'm quite proud to be an owner of the soundtrack on CD when it was released in the United States on RCA Victor. At the time of this writing there is no DVD of Paperhouse yet available in the U.S. (only in Europe), here's hoping one of my wishes will come true as I truly cherish this beautiful film and a DVD of it would be very welcome!

It's satisfying watching the girl work out her thoughts like a puzzle game trying to make the dream world work for her and her newfound friend Marc (Elliot Spiers). Both Charlotte Burke and Elliot Spiers do a magnificent job throughout, I find the editorial comment on Amazon.com about it being "hammy acting" quite perplexing -- I found every aspect of Paperhouse to be exhilarating. Even in minor scenes of brilliance like when Charlotte and the girl in the classroom are staring at each other through the glass on a door, it's quite powerful.

You don't have to be an arthouse type to enjoy Paperhouse, just be a person that enjoys a film that stimulates and has you wanting more. There is enough in this film to invite repeated viewings and I'm still in awe of the cinematography and sets. For me, it's never like watching the same film twice, as there are so many details to absorb and savor. A very emotional experience indeed.

While there are many films I adore, there are only a few specific ones that strike a great emotional chord in me: films like Paperhouse, Static, Resurrection, and Donnie Darko. When I see so much drek out there passing as films that will easily be forgotten and in bargain bins, all I have to do is watch Paperhouse and my faith in wondrous storytelling is renewed.

Suffering from glandular fever 12-year-old Anna finds herself living a largely lonely existence in the confines of her bedroom. Turning to her drawings as her only means of any kind of distraction, she finds that what she draws she envisions in her dreams at night. Befriending a young disabled boy named Marc. The temporary solace she finds with him is ruptured by the link between the dreamworld she is inhabiting and the boring reality of her everyday life. One that her dreams into a dark and chilling nightmare.

Directed by Bernard Rose whose limited directorial CV would include intriguingly enough, his screen adaptation of Clive Barker's Candyman. Paperhouse which preceded was itself based off of the 1958 novel Marianne Dreams and marked something of a more understated, emotional, and poignant dark fantasy drama. Flawed though it undoubtedly is it is still a movie that is better than the sum of its parts. Putting a different spin on the dreamworld concept that has been utilized in A Nightmare on Elm Street to name the obvious, as well as the lesser-known Dreamscape. The movie although it does feature horror aspects is more a haunting drama about the friendship between a young girl and a terminally ill boy. Hindered sadly by the score which while for the most part effective, does become a bit overbearing in earlier scenes and the slightly mixed quality of acting. Charlotte Burke's performance although for the most adequate does become rather wooden in areas, and it's likely, not surprising that this would prove to be her only professional acting credit. American actress Glenn Headly fares slightly better, effecting a very convincing English accent is far from the best I know her to be capable above. The rest of the performances however are excellent with Gemma Jones, Ben Cross, and Elliot Spiers as Mark, the crippled boy that Anna befriends.

Rose manages to evoke an ethereal, dreamlike quality to the dream sequences and an emotive mood that hangs over the entirety of the movie. However, he does fall short when it comes to horror aspects which rather than having an air of foreboding just don't cut the mustard. Given some of the dialogue in the scenes though, I would defy any director to have been able to have pulled them off. The movie's denouement as well just doesn't come off quite as well as it should of either, which I felt wrapped things up a little too conveniently. Nevertheless, Paperhouse makes for a mainly rewarding experience and it manages to pull off a stark, ramshackle aesthetic in the dream sequences and admirably utilizes its low budget to remarkable effect all things considered. It's sad to know as well Marc Spiers sadly passed away six years after this film was released at the all too young age of 20 with only a handful of acting credits to his name. Something that lends a more poignant edge to the film. Anyway, despite its obvious shortcomings it's still worth a fairly touching and atmospheric piece of work from Rose, who as he did with Candyman proved that he had an aptitude for creating a brooding or haunting ambiance in his work, and who may have very well been a wasted talent.

I dont understand why this movie gets such high praise. It's absolutely terrible. The little girl Anna just shrieks half the movie. I'm sure in the late 80's this seemed progressive and had amazing special effects, but they do not hold up to today at all. This movie is only 93 minutes long and it literally feels like its 3 hours long. Bad acting, terrible special effects. The only thing decent about the movie it some of the story line (little girl drawing fantasy world and it becoming "real") which could be much better.

Put quite simply, this film is terrifying.

It starts off simply, looking like a study of a rebellious young girl and goes on to become a beautifully crafted horror film.

Don't expect gore, or zombies. This is psychological, and just as he would also do in Candyman, Bernard Rose manages to convey the horror that is not being believed.

Each time you watch this film, you realise more about what's happening, and about how the two worlds in this film interconnect.

Drawings have never been scarier.

Let me say from the start that this really is an imaginative, surreal & sometimes engaging story. That said, I'm going against the grain here and say I was bored to death. Felt to me like it didn't know if it wanted to be a thriller, a drama or fantasy. Your mileage may vary.