The Paperboy is a 1994 Canadian Psychological Horror film starring Alexandra Paul, Mark Marut, and William Katt, and directed by Douglas Jackson.
Melissa Thorpe (Paul) and her young daughter Cammie return to Melissa's hometown after several years away, to attend her mother's funeral following the older woman's recent death. She soon meets the local paperboy Johnny McFarley (Marut), who seeks to befriend the new arrivals and get emotionally closer to them as the days go by...but unknown to Melissa, not only is Johnny mentally unwell, but he was the one who murdered Melissa's mother.
Johnny's maliciousness continues to manifest itself more and more as he strives to integrate himself into Melissa's family, and he's willing to take out anyone and everyone who gets in the way of his vision of what "his family" should be like, including Melissa's love interest Brian (Katt).
Despite the name, the movie has no relation to Paperboy, other than the fact that both titular characters have regular paper routes. Nor is it connected to the 2012 crime-drama film of the same name.
This movie provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Johnny's upbringing at his mother's hands was not exactly conducive to his mental well-being. Plus, his father's been neglecting him, due to Mr. McFarley's job keeping him away from home.
- Ax-Crazy: Johnny is not a well 12-year-old.
- Batter Up!: Johnny arms himself with a metal baseball bat at different points in the film (he's prominently seen with it in the trailer).
- Buried Alive: After Melissa rejects Johnny's desire for them to become a family, he tries to pull this on her. She manages to escape, however.
- Control Freak: Johnny is determined that his vision of the perfect family is going to go exactly the way he believes it should go. Anything that gets in the way of that vision has got to go. (Basically, he's a preteen version of The Stepfather.)
- Disproportionate Retribution: Brenda spraying Johnny with a water hose while he's out riding his bicycle isn't exactly a nice thing to do, to be sure...but his payback, sabotaging the antenna wires that Brenda uses to sneak in and out of her bedroom window so she ends up falling and injuring herself, is far worse.
- Enfant Terrible: Johnny is 12 years old and is...very homicidal. Justified, as he was physically and emotionally abused by his mother.
- Faux Affably Evil: When Melissa and Cammie first meet Johnny, he initially comes across as quite friendly and helpful. However, it's off-put by the audience having seen him suffocate Melissa's mother at the very beginning of the movie.
- Freak Out: Johnny's meltdowns when things don't go his way are something to behold.
- The Fundamentalist: Johnny's mother was this.
- Golf Clubbing: Johnny clubs his father to death with a fold-out putter.
- If I Can't Have You…: In a non-romantic example, Johnny makes this chilling threat:If you're not gonna be part of my family, you're not going to be part of anyone else's family.
- Kids Are Cruel: Johnny most definitely is.
- Kill It with Fire: Johnny pours gasoline on Brian before lighting him on fire.
- Mood-Swinger: Part of what makes Johnny so dangerous is that not only do you not know what might set him off, you can never predict when he'll be set off either.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: For Johnny, if someone either doesn't dance to his tune or is going to obstruct his goals, murder is the only solution.
- The Peeping Tom: At one point Johnny spies on Brenda, Cammie's babysitter, having sex with her boyfriend.
- Powerful Pick: Johnny arms himself with a pickaxe during the final showdown.
- Self-Made Orphan: It's revealed that Johnny killed his abusive mother prior to the events of the movie. During the film proper, he kills his father when the latter suggests they move away from the area.
- The Sociopath: Johnny checks off a lot of the boxes. He's a manipulative little prick toward Cammie, he'll tell lies to make himself look better, he has nothing resembling empathy, he'll do whatever it takes to get what he wants, and he doesn't care what anyone else thinks.
- Staircase Tumble: How Johnny killed his mother.
- Traveling Salesman: This is Johnny's father's job, and it keeps him away from home for long periods at a time. For her part, Melissa thinks Mr. McFarley should prioritize spending more time with his son.
- Villainous Breakdown: Johnny goes through one near the end when Melissa firmly and finally rejects him.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Johnny tries to invoke this at the end when the cops show up, by claiming Melissa is the one trying to kill him. However, Brian has shown up with them to demolish Johnny's claim, having survived Johnny's attempt to burn him alive and then having already told the police everything.
