MovieChat Forums > Paperhouse (1989) Discussion > Wooden acting ruined it for me

Wooden acting ruined it for me

posted 9 years ago by nashknight-1
8 replies | jump to latest

This movie has some of the worst acting I'we seen in my entire life. The actress playing the mother has all the acting skills of a chair, and the girl is not far behind.

[–] DreTam2000 9 years ago

Wow...

If you thought that was bad, you might have a stroke or a heartattack if you watch Carpenter's Prince of Darkness or 1979's Phantasm (stay away from most flicks with Mathew McConaughey while you're at it). I can think of lots and lots of movies with bad acting. Paperhouse did not have wooden acting. See the Watchmen film for wooden acting.

This film was decent.

I'm not a control freak, I just like things my way

[–] nashknight-1 9 years ago

Nonsense.

[–] bazzabazz 8 years ago

Yep, awful acting, it really stood out and made it hard to enjoy.

[–] gkarahalia 8 years ago

I agree about the girl!!! She is awful...

[–] rudeboymurray (3281) 4 years ago

Glenne Headly was a good actress but undeniably miscast here as a British mother. Charlotte Burke was fine, I thought, and Elliot Spiers wonderful as Mark.

[–] Ed (527) 3 years ago

The mother was fine. The boy was fine. The girl was bad- bratty and her tenper tantrum nearly ruined the film for me.

The real world was not interesting. The fantasy world was more captivating.

But all in all, not a great film. Watch Jan Svankmajer’s Alice for a far better child actress in a fantasy dream world.

[–] rudeboymurray (3281) 3 years ago

Oh I really like Svankmajer’s Alice too. I nay give the slight edge to Paperhouse for nostalgic reasons but both are very memorable nightmare fantasies imo.

[–] LoveCatsHateDogs (1987) a day ago

It felt like they had ADR'ed/re-recorded the sound and, at least in the version I watched, the kid's voice was in sync with her lips and her mother's wasn't.

But yeah, you can't really expect amazing acting from a kid in a low-budget movie like this.