So, let me get this straight. "Paperhouse" (a fantastic fantasy/thriller) gets critical acclaim when it first came out in '88. The late Roger Ebert gave it four out of four stars calling the film, "A dream movie that uses images so real and so concrete, they seem more convincing than most real-life dramas" and currently has a certified fresh rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes! And this only gets 6.7/10 on here?
Something is surely wrong here...
I'd say it's a pretty solid 8/10, but I'm content to focus more on the film than on the rating here.
share[deleted]
I agree, it's such a creative/beautiful movie, way too underrated
shareYou did get it straight. Agree it could/should be a bit higher rated though - the first 45 mins are mostly quite excellent and the final stretches rather beautiful without wallowing in outright schmaltz, but it´s the more conventional horror sequences with the crazed daddy going after her, that don´t work well, being like an infinite number of similar scenes from horror way below Paperhouse otherwise. The worst thing´s probably the use of a much heavy metal minded electric guitar to punctuate certain more volatile scenes - it´s so cheesy one would think some hack, like Dario Argento, has taken over the direction there. Generally though it´s a surprisingly, supremely competent job by this Rose guy, especially considering this type of psy-horror is probably amongst the most difficult genres to get right. Same with the actors - the Burke chick in particular´s so natural in front of camera I´m surprised she´s never appeared in any other film. I rate it 7,5/10.
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