A tasteful child's horror story.

Rating: 7/10 (1 June 2010)

Coraline is by no means a child's film. Despite the impression it is, and the advertisements aiming for children, i doubt there would be a boy or girl under 12 to watch this and not toss and turn at night. Hell, I'm praying i don't do the same. Yet, through its darkness and horror like storyline, it still remains to me, to be one of the best animated children's films that i have seen in a long while.
Nowadays, the genre is so full of CG animation, with the ever endless same story lines, but this movie puts a little twist in the usually bland and often forgotten category. Admittedly, i was extremely shocked to find that the director of this movie was not Tim Burton, as the disturbing images and stop-motion animation would have had me believe otherwise. However, even without Burton's absence the film does itself proud in its own right, and the fact that it is stop-motion i feel really helps to bring out the fright in this tale, as the jittery movements and exaggerated body parts support the macabre atmosphere.
The film is based around a relatively isolated house, which has been broken up into separate apartments. The angry and upset Coraline has just moved in, and is unhappy with the lack of attention she receives from her work ridden and economically unstable parents. This leads to the discovery of a small doorway which leads to a parallel world, where everything that appears to be wrong with her current life is right.
As always, everything seems fine at first, until things inevitably slip and a more chilling atmosphere descends on the film. Overall however, there are some dark elements, and very adults themes. That is not to say, however, that it is any less of an interesting, and visually treatable picture.