Stepfanie
Powers, Dean Stockwell, James Stacy
Considering this was made way back in 1971, when a CPU was called a “main
frame” and took up about half of a football field, Paper
Man is strangely relevant. Director Walter Grauman
constructed a thoughtful and taut little thriller all about what happens
when a computer gets done wrong. Obviously not as elaborate as The
Terminator, or even the sleazy Demon Seed (ed.:
how DARE you!!), Paper Man concerns four students who create a fictional
person to acquire a credit card. Lacking the savvy to completely fool
the bank’s computer, they enlist a fellow student, the high-strung
hacker Dean Stockwell (with super poofy hair). A hot
computer retard (Stepfanie Powers), falls for the noticeably
disturbed Dean, much to the chagrin of James Dean wanna-be, James
Stacy. Not soon after, the group discovers that one of them has
bought a gun. Slowly but surely someone or something begins terminating
the student’s most precious account… their lives!!
An
amazing thriller for it’s time, Paper Man will no doubt look archaic
to modern computer geeks, but it’s a compelling look at the future
we now live in. The entire school is automized, from the files to the
creepy robot/patient the pre-med students use for study. That robot comes
into play during one of the freakiest scenes in the movie. There’s
also a good death by elevator sequence that, though bloodless, is far
grizzlier than most MOTW of that ilk. Worth seeking out.
Recapped
by Amanda by Night
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