Little Johnny. He looks like the red-toniced-hair, freckle-faced kid in a 1952 corn flakes ad. He likes hamburges, he likes ice cream, likes apple pie, warm from mom's oven and fresh for the tastin'. Yummy. Sometimes, though, little Johnny gets a litt....well, very upset and throws a foot stomping tantrum.
Problem is, it is 1994 and Johnny is fourteen. My guess, the jocks hate him. The potheads hate him. The smart kids, yep. Hell, even his own babysitter beats the crap out of him, and the sitter is a girl. I think Beaver Cleaver would snuff this kid. Because cute little Johnny is not little and not cute anymore. In fact, he's a prissy
demented social idiot.
Now, it doesn't help that mom is dead, after she tortured him with good-old-fashioned Christian disciplne. No namby-pampy ritilin stuff for this family.
Dad leaves Johnny to his own devices. No, litterally, leaves: other parts of the country, weeks on end. But shucks, that's ok. He brings Johnny back golf clubs.
One day, a single mom moves next store with her six-year-old girl. Johnny is there before the truck leaves, unpacking boxes, and low and behold, he is invited for a cookout. Hot Dogs. Relish. NEATO.
The only pitfall: this kid NEVER goes the hell home. Why should he? He is part of the family now. His NEW family. They just don't know they have adopted him yet-- or, hang on, is it the other way around? I dunno.
This presents problems, such as when our prepubesent hero is playing with dolls with his new sister, or when Johnny hurls a plate of weenies across the yard because mom is going on a date. Asked to leave, he drives a knife into a table.........do you think it is time to take away TV, send Johnny to bed early, put him on about 7000mgs of thoridzine.
But that is nothing compared to what happens after the date, when Johnny sees mom is doing........THAT! And right on the living room couch no less. Mom's don't do those terrible things. Well, Johnny, when mom loves someone very much, or simply has not gotten any action in a long, long time......what? ...No, Johnny, you and her can't do this.
The Paperboy being classic horror, it does not take long for Johnny to kill dad, a few other interlopers, and turn on mom and sis. Soon the men in the white coats come to save the day. Bye bye, Johnny.
I saw and reviewed Stalked [VHS] by the same director, Dougless Jackson. He is not a known director, but is a master at classic, no-nonsense horror formula. He makes you feel empathy for Johnny and fear for his victims. No rap soundtrack, no modern divices, no comic asides, and no watering down, or speeding up, the genre for today's viewers. Workman's horror that works every time.
Alexandra Paul plays the mom-next-door perfectly. She is proper, but modern and tolerent; firm but compassionate, trying at one point to get Johnny help. Great acting, once you contrast Paul here to her Baywatch snotpuss-on-bikinis character. I don't know who this kid is, but he is either completely insane or completely brillant. He plays Johnny as a stereotype, but in nuts and bolts horror, that is the idea. He NAILS it.
Cool flick.
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Farewell to Newspapers and the Psycho Children Who Deliver Them
Added 7/3/2009
The Paperboy (1994)
Directed by Douglas Jackson
Written by David E. Peckinpah
A few months ago on The Daily Show Jon Stewart cracked this joke:
"What's black and white and completely over? Newspapers!"
It's true. This is the end of an era. And I, for one, could not be happier. Why? Well...
Once upon a time newspapers arrived as if by magic on suburban doorsteps, every morning. Yet there was no magic involved. Because newspapers were actually delivered by nimble, neglected, angry children on bicycles. Children with ginger hair and winning smiles. Children named Johnny McFarley.
Johnny was well groomed, polite, ready for work, organized and smart. He knew exactly what time of day old Mrs. Rosemont liked to chill in front of the TV. He also knew how to sneak into her house. He carried a plastic bag, and practiced tiptoeing up behind her without making a sound.
Why would Johnny kill Mrs. Rosemont?
Not because she was mean to him. Not because she cheated him on her newspaper bill. Not because she called him names. No. Johnny killed Mrs. Rosemont simply to make her incredibly boring family come to town for the funeral. See, Johnny had a crush on Mrs. Rosemont's slack-jawed, pastel-blouse-wearing daughter Alexandra.
Poor old Mrs. Rosemont was nothing but a stepping-stone in Johnny's plan, and that makes Johnny one crazy little ginger-haired sociopath. Hence his foaming-at-the-mouth motto:
"God hates stupid children!"
Thank goodness The Paperboy came along in the 1990s and got people thinking. It's taken a few years, but now we can finally say goodbye to newspapers and the psychotic boys and girls who deliver them.
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Standard Fare For The Genre, Except The Killer Is Young
Added 4/6/2009
Marc Marut is convincingly creepy as the young (13 or 14-year-old) paperboy who has a crush/mother fixation. The kid is eerie, especially when he gets excited and his voice squeaks. The movie is interesting and moves along pretty well yet, for this genre, it's standard fare; nothing exceptional.
I might have rated it higher had it not contained yet another example of Hollywood's prejudice against Christianity. Here again we get the message that the kid was nuts because his "strict, religious" mother made him that way. That has become a standard film cliché to explain insanity. Other than that, there was little offensive material, including language.
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Guilty pleasure!
Added 7/15/2007
Okay, the other reviewers are right, this is a B movie that has some funny parts that were actually meant to be scary. But trust me, if you like "B" thrillers, this one's pretty good. The guy who plays Johnny is spot on, and the little girl is a pretty good actress as well. The plot's interesting but it dies down a little at the end. Oh well, I rented this a lot when I was younger and always enjoyed it. I bought it used off Amazon a while back, and my husband just didn't get why I loved it. Oh well, to each their own.
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Good Horror/Thriller
Added 1/16/2007
When a young divorcee returns to her hometown to settle her mothers estate she and her daughter are befriended by a 12 yr old boy named Johnny McFarley. He looks like a normal kid but Melissa, 'The Mother', has no idea whats shes getting herself into by befriending this kid.
Johnny lives next door with his dad whos never around. There are also rumors about what happened to his mom and whether or not he had something to do with her death. It dosent take long to see how twisted and mixed up this kid is and soon the 'friendship' with the mom and daughter turns into obsession and now both are concerned and soon fearing for their lives. This kid wants a family of his own and will stop at nothing to get it.
The actor who plays 'Johnny' is perfect for this role. Totally convincing. This movie will definitely have you watching to the end and interested in what might happen next. Its a made for tv movie or B movie so dont expect a masterpiece. But overall its a good edition to the genre and the guy who plays the role of Johnny is the perfect 'disturbed kid'. He makes the movie.
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