Paperhouse – Alpträume werden wahr (1988)

Paperhouse – Alpträume werden wahr: Directed by Bernard Rose. With Charlotte Burke, Jane Bertish, Samantha Cahill, Glenne Headly. A young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.

“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 up and really looks like a childu0026#39;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 face in the house, but like many things in the movie, this is only hinted at.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn many ways I found this movie better than the book, Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. Although the book 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePerhaps the reason this amazing film wasnu0026#39;t a huge commercial success was because itu0026#39;s difficult to determine itu0026#39;s intended audience. While the character of Anna might appeal to pre-teens, some scenes (in particular the one when the father tries to break into the house with a hammer) are far to intense for young children. Most adults may be put off by the plot, but if theyu0026#39;re at all interested in child or dream psycology, or just want to see something different, Iu0026#39;d throughly reccomend it.”