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By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Truly disturbing horror films don’t always have to involve gruesome murders like those found in the Terrifier series, the grotesque imagery of a David Cronenberg film, or the jumps from Screaming; they can, in fact, be surprisingly lively and colorful, as is the case with Coraline. It can be hard to explain to someone who hasn’t seen the film how disturbing the film is, but that’s part of what makes it so great and a great introduction to horror. The story of a young woman who stumbles into another world begins leisurely, but like a frog in a pot of boiling water, viewers realize too late what they are about to experience.
Gothic Horror for Children
Coraline is a bored 11-year-old girl who discovers a strange passage in her family’s new home that leads her to a world just like her own, except here, her parents pay attention to her, smother her with love, and everyone has an odd one. buttons over their eyes. The “Other World” is full of temptations to get her to stay, and her “Other Mother” makes that offer, except to stay, she has to have buttons sewn over her eyes. To be honest, it’s not much of a proposition, and it’s very clear that the “Other Mother” is up to no good, but this is no mystery; it’s gothic horror.
Gothic horror focuses on the macabre and the unsettling feeling that something is not quite right, and the change in animation, lighting, and color palette between the real world and the “Other World” is convey that feeling of uneasiness before you see how everyone is doing. doppelganger acting “off.” Coraline eventually introducing ghosts, another staple of the genre, before it all comes together for a happy ending.
The really troubling part of Coraline the temptation is not the visual, knowing that the “Other World” is wrong, but you can feel how the young woman weighs her options and thinks about it. Beyond the supernatural and the macabre, gothic horror is about heightened emotion and passion that overwhelms all common sense, and that’s what makes this story so disturbing. We know it’s dangerous, we know it’s wrong, and Coraline knows the same, but there’s still that little part that thinks, “But what if?”
Handmade Horror Puppetry
Although the unstable environment and strong story of Coraline has helped him develop a lasting fan base, the visuals definitely help. Animated by Laika, the studio originally founded by a legendary animator Will Vintonthe stop-motion style images heighten the sense of unreality that permeates the entire film. Although with the help of CGI imagery, thousands of models were made for the film, with over a hundred physical sets built to support the elaborate puppetry at work of not only the main characters but even the background elements, from dancing flowers to creepy paintings.
Coraline is an impressive display of practical special effects, but it is also helped by the voice cast, which includes Dakota Fanning as Coraline and Teri Hatcher as both versions of her mother, along with Judge John Hodgman, Keith David , and Ian McShane. But most impressive was the dual re-release of the film this year, once during the summer, and again for Halloweenwhere he made over $53 million. In 2024, 15 years after its original release in 2009.
Between the vivid, unpleasant but beautiful images and the well-crafted story, Coraline has gone beyond being a cult classic to become the most successful ‘stop-motion’ animated film of all time and a true classic of cinema. If you ever wanted to introduce someone to horror, there is no better film than this. Even if you’re an aficionado with a favorite Michael Myers, it’s still a fun film that, at 100 minutes, is an easy watch that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
Coraline now streaming for free is Tubi.
