There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

London resident Anna is a preteen girl with a very boring life. She goes to a strict school every day, has very few friends and thinks she's a little old for daydreaming... but when she starts fainting in school she dreams of a lonely little boy her age trapped in the very world she doodled on her notebook in class! She gets sick and, bedridden, has all the time she wants to dream. She's happy to have a new best friend, although her and Marc's relationship starts off badly. They quickly become inseparable, and when she's awake she draws new items for him so he won't get bored.One day she overhears her nurse talking about another patient, who has the same name and description as Marc from Anna's dream world. In the real world he's slowly dying, and Anna plots to rescue him by drawing her estranged father to rescue him... the problem is she draws her father the way he used to be, a confused drunk blinded by booze and unable to reason, so now her dream world has a monster within it. When Marc passes away all of a sudden, Anna is heartbroken... can she ever learn to dream again? Paperhouse is a breathtaking, suspenseful and depressing story, with a boring little girl in a boring world who discovers a talent that gives her a greater purpose in life, the power to connect with the souls of dying people and help them. It was based on a book, the young adult novel Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. Sadly Elliott Spiers, who played Marc's role, died in 1994 thanks to medication side-effects. Paperhouse has amazing soundtrack, memorable acting and surreal yet strangely beautiful scenery.There is one con; the plot itself is highly similar to the Jodie Foster movie Echoes of a Summer (1976), Never Let Me Go (2010), and the two fiction novels No Place for Eco-Sinners and Coraline. Paperhouse can also drag on in some parts, after all, the main character is bedridden much of the time.Still, Paperhouse deserves a much higher rating than what it has now. Unlike Never Let Me Go (2010), where the main characters grow up with a planned death of forced organ donation, Paperhouse isn't so depressing. It offers hope even after Marc's death, that perhaps he's in a better place, still always protecting Anna. I'm honestly very glad it hasn't been remade because I think it's an excellent film just as it is.Check out Paperhouse, once you get into it, it's a thought-provoking and adventurous, imaginative story.

Coming from the same director who'd done and "Immortal Beloved", I'm not surprised it's a good film. Ironically, "Papierhaus" is a movie I'd never heard of until now, yet it must be one of the best movies of the late 80s - partly because that is hands down the worst movie period in recent decades. (Not talking about Iranian or Swedish "cinema" here...) The acting is not brilliant, but merely solid - unlike what some people here claim (they must have dreamt this "wondrous acting", much like Anna). The story is an interesting fantasy that doesn't end in a clever way that ties all the loose ends together neatly. These unanswered questions are probably left there on purpose, leaving it up to the individual's interpretation, and there's nothing wrong with that with a theme such as this. "Pepperhaus" is a somewhat unusual mix of kids' film and horror, with effective use of sounds and music. I like the fact that the central character is not your typical movie-cliché ultra-shy-but-secretly-brilliant social-outcast girl, but a regular, normal kid; very refreshing. I am sick and tired of writers projecting their own misfit-like childhoods into their books and onto the screens, as if anyone cares anymore to watch or read about yet another miserly, lonely childhood, as if that's all there is or as if that kind of character background holds a monopoly on good potential. The scene with Anna and the boy "snogging" (for quite a stretch) was a bit much - evoking feelings of both vague disgust and amusement - considering that she was supposed to be only 11, but predictably it turned out that Burke was 13 or 14 when this was filmed. I have no idea why they didn't upgrade the character's age or get a younger actress. It was quite obvious that Burke isn't that young. Why directors always cast kids older than what they play, hence dilute the realism, I'll never know.

This is one of three 80's movies that I can think of that were sadly overlooked at the time and unfortunately, still overlooked. One of the others was Clownhouse directed by Victor Salva, a movie horribly overlook due to Salva's legal/sexual problems. Another would be Cameron's Closet which strikes me as somewhat underrated--not great, but not nearly as bad as the reviews I've seen. Paper House is well worth your time and I think that it is one of those very quiet films that will just stick in your brain for far longer than you might think. I mean, 10 years after I've seen it and I still give it some pause, whereas something that I might have seen 6 months ago has gone into the ether.

In 1988, Paperhouse was hailed as a "thinking man's horror film." Wow, you might say, sign me up. This thing is a mess. It features a one time young actress who has a range of like 1 to 2. G. Headley with a bad British (dubbed) accent, and a story with no chills, thrills or spills.It isn't even interesting psycho-babble. One will only laugh at its cheap effects and long for a showing of Leprechaun 5.The story involves a girl with glandular fever who escapes in her dreams. WHat you get isn't good horror, art house or even a decent after-school special. I found myself after the two hour point saying..where did my two hours go.The direction is uninspired and I wished it could even be pretentious...something interesting..it seems like the producers were on lithium.Even in the dream world things are boring.A short no on this one.