mtckoch This film, although intended to be a horror film, instead turns out to be a surprisingly dark and thought-provoking psychological thriller. Johnny McFarley seems like the perfect boy next door, but a closer examination reveals he has a very twisted psyche for a twelve-year-old. I liked this film because it has us feel pity for and be unnerved by Johnny at the same time. Unlike the Good Son, for example, you feel like this is a good kid who simply went through hell and snapped instead of a soulless demon-child portrayal. Although it may not seem scary, it touches the very ugly topics of child abuse and religion used badly well. The only real weak point I saw was the father figure, who could have been omitted entirely for the little he adds to the film. Though not the most bloody or shocking film, it hits all the right notes for a great thriller.

Paul Andrews 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.

Devotchka Sigh...memories of long summer days in which my sister and I did little more than watch the USA network. While doing so we tripped over this pathetic little blunder of a movie, and have since peppered our conversations with comments such as "God hates stupid children!" and "Hey Peaches, want some ribs?"Characters are as follows: Johnny McFarley, the homicidal paperboy, Melissa, the completely oblivious object of his desire, and Cammie, Melissa's brainless little girl. There is also the witchy old woman from down the street, who spends about half of her scenes cackling, "He's eeeeevil!" in reference to Johnny.In short, the movie is dumb. It's contrived. No one I've talked to has ever seen it, which is a pity because it's so humorously bad.

drgigglesgirl666 The paper boy is about a boy who's obsessed with his neighbors daughter so he kills her to bring her daughter back to the house and he wants the young woman to be his mother and he wants to be accepted into the family, he befriends the womans little girl, begins buying both of them presents and stuff but gets very jealouse when the b/f comes over. Anyone who gets in his way ends up dead and anyone who tries to warn the woman gets killed. He tries to impress her and make her love him and eventually he starts showing his "sick" side to her and he gets banned from her house then the real terror begins!