When a group of college students mistakenly come into the possession of a credit card, the titular PAPER MAN is born. His name is "Henry Norman" and the group conspires to give him a fictitious "life" of his own. When the bank gets wise, another student named Avery (Dean Stockwell) reluctantly joins in. Avery is a computer genius, and uses his skills to complete the ruse.
Not too shockingly, things begin to get a bit more complicated than originally anticipated, even taking a turn for the sinister and deadly. Has "Mr. Norman" somehow become real?
PAPER MAN is a very good made-for-TV, science fiction / horror / mystery movie from the golden age of such projects. There are some genuinely creepy moments here! The story is solid, and the characters are well-realized, sort of prefiguring the students in FLATLINERS in both arrogance and naivete. The ending is astutely chilling, considering how computers have actually developed in the decades since!
Co-stars Stefanie Powers as Karen, and James Olson as Art Fletcher.
EXTRA POINTS FOR: Spotting the printout portrait of Alfred E. Neuman in the computer room!
This film deserves to be rediscovered...
