Paperhouse

This was a surprisingly great movie. I saw it when it was somewhat new. Back then, my brother and I would each get one rental. I picked action/spy movies, he went straight to the horror section. And Paperhouse was one he picked. Today I wouldn't call Paperhouse a horror movie, but back then it was a little scary in a couple places. Then I got a chance to see it again, in HD as well. The first two thirds are mostly what I remember. After that was all new to me. Maybe I fell asleep the first time? Either way, great movie. Watched it with my wife. She'd never seen it before, or heard of it. Both of us were impressed. I want to rate it higher, but for what it was, an 8 is generous. It's more deserving of a 7 or 7.5. I guess it gets the extra point for such a unique and imaginative story.

Bernard Rose is most famous for directing Candyman, one of my personal favorites of the genre, handling atmosphere and horror to an almost perfect degree. Before Candyman however, Rose directed this fever dream (pun intended) dark atmospheric kids thriller. Anna goes through phases of passing through a developing cold while also balancing her awkward childhood life and dreams that seem to interweave between real life and fever. Rose definitely captures the atmosphere and horror as Anna tries to make sense of her dreams, her past, her father missing from her life and what it means if he comes back into it. As a kid, this definitely made me hide under the covers a lot. Super creepy. Watching it now, the logic is fuzzy and the script is a little weak, but the story and set created for it more than makes up for it. They really don't make them like this anymore. The end is really the worst part of this.