The Paperboy (1994)

When I first saw this movie I like many people never really heard of it. Well their is a reason its not exactly brilliant or known for academy award acting. Its really not scary to adult I would say as it is somewhat predictable. With that being said its still a good film depending on what you would want out of it. Don't expect a horror film but rather expect huge laughs about a unraveling of a bratty,nerdy and quite weird neighborhood kid. Their is a lot to laugh at when its clear that the horror theme isn't even coming close with a over so trying character. It all starts when the boy notices the new family across the street and decides to meet them. LOVE at first sight. He becomes hooked and starts visiting on the daily. He grows increasingly stranger by the day and starts taking out whoever is in his way. The boys father is no help while its pretty apparent how he spoils him with his guilt about divorcing his mother. The movie is good not great. I would say see this to the viewer who like the laugh at unique humor when its not so easy to see.

The Paper Boy starts with 12 year old psycho paper boy Johnny McFarley (Marc Marut) suffocating his elderly neighbour Mrs. Thorpe with a plastic bag. Mrs. Thorpe's daughter Melissa (Alexandra Paul) & her young daughter Cammie (Brigid Tierney) fly in from Boston to attend the funeral, however no sooner has Melissa arrived at her Mother's house Johnny is trying to do things for her. At first Melissa just thinks that Johnny is a nice lad who comes round to play with Cammie but a darker side to Johnny emerges, Johnny is absolutely infatuated with Melissa & hides a two way baby monitor device in her house to listen in on every word Melissa says. Johnny turns his closet into a shrine dedicated to Melissa crammed full with photo's of her. Johnny buys her & Cammie expensive things, he is always hanging around, some of the things he says are unsettling, he becomes upset easily when Melissa ignores him & he will do anything to try & make her happy. All Johnny wants is a family, a Mother, someone to love him & he goes to murderous lengths to ensure Melissa & Cammie are that family he's looking for...This Canadian production (there's a surprise, not!) was directed by Douglas Jackson & is surely more than worth the description of crap. Much more a psychological thriller than straight horror the script by David E. Peckinpah has a ridiculous central premise, a homicidal emotionally messed up paper boy who turns to murder to get his own way. For starters I simply couldn't believe that someone thought making a film about a killer paper boy was a sensible idea! Us horror fans have had to put up with a lot, killer dentists, killer ice-cream men, mutant killer snowmen, killer insects & animals of all shapes, sizes & descriptions, killer aliens, killer ghosts, killer toys & dolls, killer cars, trucks & ships, killer Leprechaun's, killer plants, killer waxworks & a whole host of other bizarre homicidal maniacs besides but a killer paper boy? Surely that's stretching things just that bit too far? I mean the idea of a killer paper boy hardly sends shivers down my spine! The film is as dull as dishwater, it's slow & boring, it's predictable, the character's are bland & forgettable & as a whole the film did nothing for me whatsoever. I guess I just hated the wretched thing, plain & simple.Director Jackson does nothing to try & liven the tedium up, The Paper Boy is bland, forgettable & uninspired stuff throughout. There is zero tension, atmosphere or scares & the story is very pedestrian & obvious. In fact I couldn't make it through the thing in one sitting, I watched the first 50 odd minutes a couple of days ago & then since I'm such a masochist I forced myself to watch the rest of it yesterday, never let it be said I don't give a film a chance! Forget about any gore, violence or nudity because there ain't none.Technically The Paper Boy has that made-for-TV cheapness written all over it & I'm surprised it wasn't, I can barely remember a single shot from the thing. Surprisingly Alexandra Paul was in the middle of her Baywatch (1989 - 2001) stint when she made The Paper Boy & you thought Pamela Anderson made a bad career decision with Barb Wire (1996) just wait until you this this cinematic train wreck! To her credit though she is pretty good looking. I absolutely hated Marut, I thought he was awful as he was a whiny annoying pain to watch & I just wanted to grab him & give him a good slap. There certainly wasn't anything sinister or scary about his character which has to be his fault, right?The Paper Boy was crap, it's as simple & straight forward as that. I found no entertainment value here whatsoever & I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, probably one to avoid.

This movie is so stupid it's funny. It's like a nineties version of "The Bad Seed". Johnny becomes infatuated with his hot new neighbor, Alexandra Paul, but not in a sexual way...he wants to become part of her family, together with her daughter. Poor Johnny, caught in that awkward age between sexual awakening and wanting to belong, he doesn't even realize how hot Alexandra is, he just wants to live in the same house with her and move away from his milquetoast father. Alexandra comes home one day to find Johnny in her kitchen, making apple pie. "We can have it a la mode," he smiles and says to the startled Alexandra and her daughter. "That means 'with ice cream'." You have to see it to believe it, this movie is filled with stupid scenes like this. An old woman meddles in Johnny's affairs and pays the price: he literally scares her to death, in a scene reminiscent of the magic-act scene in the movie "The Other". He even bumps off his dad, who wants to move them to California. This show pops up on USA once in a while, check it out, it's a riot.

i saw this movie as a child and i don't have very fond memories of it- that is, it really scared me. i'm sure if i watched it again now that i'm older i wouldn't feel so creeped out about it. i remember quite a few scenes vividly- the main character is a twisted boy who kills without regard but whom nevertheless forms a strange bond with a younger girl next door. as i recall, people start to catch on to what he's about and the ending is a real bloodbath.this movie isn't for the faint of heart, but if you like stories about psycho killers and gruesome murders, then by all means, rent this movie, the paperboy won't disappoint you.