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 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.