The best horror movie you've never heard of. Though calling it a horror may be selling it short. Paperhouse is a profound psychological drama that deftly deals with themes of growing up, regret, sorrow, loss, resentment and leaving childhood innocence behind. Director Bernard Rose made his feature debut with this film and truly gave us something for the ages. Shot in 1988 there is very little that dates Paperhouse and it has the lasting ability to make new impressions upon every new generation.

Liberally adapted from Catherine Storr's novel "Marianne Dreams" (and not the first live-action adaptation either) the film follows a girl called Anna who falls ill with glandular fever on her 11th birthday. She draws a house on a shred of paper from her exercise book and falls into a dream in which the house exists as a lonely structure on a desolate landscape. Each subsequent dream that she has is altered by the presence of whatever she adds to the picture. In her third dream she meets a boy she thinks she has created called Marc. She befriends him and their relationship becomes stronger as the dreams become darker and scarier.

Charlotte Burke who plays Anna is a terrific actress and it is very strange that, after just one film, she should disappear and never be in anything ever again. She really does give a great performance. Eliott Spiers died in 1994 giving his sorrowful performance as Marc, Anna's dreamworld friend, a bittersweet edge. But special mention has to be made of Hans Zimmer's wonderful score. Eerie, mysterious, joyful with a hint of sadness; his score to Paperhouse has it all. It sounds a little bit too close to main melody of Broken Arrow, but when it's this good who cares? Along with Total Recall, Paperhouse proves that architects of subversive dreamworlds existed in film long before Christopher Nolan made it Inception.

On the day of her birthday, Anna (Charlotte Burke) plays a prank at school and is expelled from the classroom. Out of the blue, she faints, and her mother Kate (Glenne Headly) is summoned by the principal. While driving to the doctor, Anna tells her mother that her fainting was fake and that she misses her father that is travelling. Kate returns to the school with Anna and after class, Anna meets her friend Sharon (Samantha Cahill) and they play hide and seek. Anna faints again in a basement, and the police seek her out and bring her home. Dr. Sarah Nicols (Gemma Jones) sees that she has fever and while Anna sleeps, she dreams with the house she had drawn in a piece of paper and meets a disabled boy called Marc (Elliott Spiers) at the window. The feverish Anna continues to dream, blending her drawings and reality with dreams that becomes nightmares.

"Paperhouse" is an original fantasy-horror movie with a subtle drama. The plot is different, with good acting and few special effects. Charlotte Burke only performance was very promising. The boy Elliott Spiers unfortunately had a tragic end in 1994 with life imitating Art. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Casa dos Sonhos" ("The House of the Dreams")

This was a disappointing horror film about a snotty young girl and her nightmares. For a horror or "thriller" film and hype, it's way too tame. There are only a few tense moments in here, not anywhere as near as many as should have been for a film of this genre. Even those "tense" scenes weren't much. The music made them more dramatic that they actually were.

There is a lot of symbolism in here, so the elitist critics label this "a thinking person's horror film." Well, if they think about it, I'm sure they will come to the same conclusion I did - a waste of money at the video rental store.

Summary: a yawner that offers an unlikeable lead character and generally poor acting. Vastly overrated and certainly not what it is advertised.