I'll preface this by saying I'm being way too hard on ParaNorman. For a movie directed at kids and tweens, I'm sure it would have admirably occupied my time between plotting which houses to hit on Halloween and riding my bike around the neighborhood with my pals. The art direction was fantastic, and the film looks great. However, as an adult, the whole thing came off as way too silly.

There's nothing wrong with being silly, per se, but I was expecting more out of ParaNorman. Even as an adult, Monster House had some genuinely frightening moments (though I also didn't care for the film as a whole), and Coraline was creepy through and through. No, ParaNorman disappointed me in…

Original review

I was a big fan of ParaNorman when I saw it at the cinema and I’m pleased to say I might be an even bigger fan at home. It manages to be both a loving throwback to ‘80s cinema yet thoroughly modern in execution and some of the character relationships. Whilst it still has some slight issues with pacing it seems wrong to complain about them when the film is made with such care, attention to detail and a genuine affection for the material. At no point does this feel like a cynical cash generator but rather a story the filmmakers want to see realised.

Having seen the film originally in a crummy little fleapit of a theatre…

Don't make me throw this hummus: It's spicy!
-Neil

A fantastic film that I can't help but think was made by horror movie fans that have kids. The film is filled with so many homages to classic horror movies that I'm certain I probably missed half of them because they are mostly very subtle.

The dialogue is truly funny from beginning to end. It's not just the funniest family film I've seen this year, but it's one of the funniest films overall I've seen. Some parents should be warned though that the film might push how far a PG film can go with the dialogue and themes in it. Our 9 year old was fine with the film, but I…

Part of the December Project: Film #10

This is how animated children films should be: Not afraid of scaring kids, full of varying types of thought out humor that can reach across all ages, and full of an emotional heart.

ParaNorman is an excellent film that pays homage to cheap horror films without becoming a pale imitation. It is, after all, a kids film, and this seems tailor made to people who grew up on this stuff. It's kind of like The Frighteners, but for kids, and much better.

The animation here is amazing. Movement is fluid and characters have a wide range of expressions and movement. I'm not sure if ParaNorman was made with the assistance of computers, but…

Paranorman is a wonderful throwback to my own childhood, lovingly referencing the types of films I was obsessed with back in the late ‘80s. Unlike other recent films (Super 8 springs to mind) this never feels like a pastiche or cheap homage, instead it takes all these disparate references - zombie films, Goonies-style adventure, cursed small towns etc. - and makes something that is both old and modern that should play well to both young and old alike.

As with the studio’s previous stop-frame animated feature, Coraline, the film manages to expertly tread that delicate line between horror and comedy. In many ways this is a scarier, darker and more adult story than Selick’s aforementioned movie. It doesn’t shy away…

"Brainsssss!"

What a treat this little horror kid flick is. I absolutely adored the story, it was perfectly paced and had a great amount of really funny moments. Norman is a horror lover as we can see from the film started, he's watching a zombie flick and sitting directly in front of the TV. His room is decked out with horror posters, his alarm clock is a grave, he owns zombie slippers; that I want really badly, and his ringtone is the Halloween theme song, I couldn't help but laugh!

Norman sees ghosts everywhere he walks, people do not accept him for who he is and think he is a freak. Having this power, an old relative comes into his…

I'm not sure I have a lot to say about this film other then it didn't really work for me and it's a children's film so my mind doesn't feel the need to spend too much time running it over. For my taste I could have used a lot more playfulness with horror movie tropes and references. That's not something I would usually say (I can't count the times I have given Tarantino shit for his extensive use of what one might call "homage") but this is not a Tarantino film and I just was looking for something a little more informed. The first few minutes actually gave me some up that the film would go in this direction, especially…