Wow, where do I begin?. I had to give this 8 stars because it is a VERY good bad movie. In other words, it is so bad that it is extremely entertaining in its earnest ineptitude.
The plot involves a sadistically evil paperboy who just wants to be loved. He kills his elderly next door neighbor because he thinks that her daughter, Melissa is hot, and he just happens to need a new mommy. He knows that she will have to come to her mother's house for the funeral. All of that is revealed in the opening scene where the paperboy kills the old lady by covering her head with a plastic bag. The daughter comes back to town, brining with her her own daughter, the bubbly young Cammie, and the paperboy proceeds to worm his way into their lives with hilarious results. He soon wears out his welcome, meanwhile Melissa and Cammie are getting acquainted with the one and only Greatest American Hero, William Katt. The paperboy continues to kill various people in the neighborhood, including his own dad. Will his bloodthirsty behaviour take lives of Melissa and Cammie too? The production style is what makes this especially hilarious. It has the feel of a lifetime network movie. You know the type, very serious, soft focus camera work, emotionally ripe music throughout, solid if heavy handed acting, and a psychologically probing tone overall. It seems like these movies are made very quickly by well trained casts & crews that just want to get them over with. But this movie was not made for TV, because there is a little bit of nudity (Cammie's horny babysitter, who is of course murdered by the paperboy).
Some of the dialog is just hilarious, and much of it delivered in a heavy Canadian accent. As I said, it is all done completely straight, without a hint of irony or satire. William Katt seems embarrassed to be walking around in a sleeveless v neck sweater. And don't forget about the old lady from Seinfeld, you know the one who gets her bread stolen by Jerry, she's even more mistreated here. She dies of a heart attack when she thinks that she sees the paperboy beat her little dog to death with a baseball bat, but really he was just beating up a giant side of beef with glass jars placed inside it. (another reviewer failed to notice that the dog was NOT murdered even though the paperboy pets it and feeds it after the old lady passes on!).
There are many more scenes in this thing that are supposed to be disturbing, but come off as just being goofy. The movie is entertaining all the way through, which is sort of uncommon for Good Bad Movies. In summary, The Paperboy is a hilarious piece of film making that should not be missed.
The plot involves a sadistically evil paperboy who just wants to be loved. He kills his elderly next door neighbor because he thinks that her daughter, Melissa is hot, and he just happens to need a new mommy. He knows that she will have to come to her mother's house for the funeral. All of that is revealed in the opening scene where the paperboy kills the old lady by covering her head with a plastic bag. The daughter comes back to town, brining with her her own daughter, the bubbly young Cammie, and the paperboy proceeds to worm his way into their lives with hilarious results. He soon wears out his welcome, meanwhile Melissa and Cammie are getting acquainted with the one and only Greatest American Hero, William Katt. The paperboy continues to kill various people in the neighborhood, including his own dad. Will his bloodthirsty behaviour take lives of Melissa and Cammie too? The production style is what makes this especially hilarious. It has the feel of a lifetime network movie. You know the type, very serious, soft focus camera work, emotionally ripe music throughout, solid if heavy handed acting, and a psychologically probing tone overall. It seems like these movies are made very quickly by well trained casts & crews that just want to get them over with. But this movie was not made for TV, because there is a little bit of nudity (Cammie's horny babysitter, who is of course murdered by the paperboy).
Some of the dialog is just hilarious, and much of it delivered in a heavy Canadian accent. As I said, it is all done completely straight, without a hint of irony or satire. William Katt seems embarrassed to be walking around in a sleeveless v neck sweater. And don't forget about the old lady from Seinfeld, you know the one who gets her bread stolen by Jerry, she's even more mistreated here. She dies of a heart attack when she thinks that she sees the paperboy beat her little dog to death with a baseball bat, but really he was just beating up a giant side of beef with glass jars placed inside it. (another reviewer failed to notice that the dog was NOT murdered even though the paperboy pets it and feeds it after the old lady passes on!).
There are many more scenes in this thing that are supposed to be disturbing, but come off as just being goofy. The movie is entertaining all the way through, which is sort of uncommon for Good Bad Movies. In summary, The Paperboy is a hilarious piece of film making that should not be missed.