Norman is an odd kid. He can see and talk with dead folks. This is NOT a welcome gift, as other people think he's a weirdo. There is a parallel story about a girl from the Puritan times with the same gift and the town's reaction to this comes back to haunt the town....literally.

My daughter saw this film in the theater and talked and talked about how much she loved this film. When it did very poorly at the box office, she was incensed. Now, several months later I got around to seeing it. However, I have a confession....I really didn't love the film. In fact, I was pretty ambivalent about it. On one hand, the film had a great look and I loved the little inside jokes scattered throughout. But, on the other, the entire final portion of the film is a giant downer--and much of the film is not at all appropriate for younger viewers. It's just too serious and lacks fun--which is strange, as the first portion of the film was, at times, quite funny. As a result, I found the film to be highly uneven and one I'd think twice about before showing it to kids.

I have always been a great fan of animation, so I'd see any film or show regardless of its general consensus. I found myself absolutely loving ParaNorman, it is not the best animated movie I've ever seen and there may be a couple of scenes that may fly over the heads of some, but there is so much great about ParaNorman that I didn't consider either of these huge problems. ParaNorman I found to be a great movie, even better than Aardman's The Pirates. The stop-motion animation is superb with beautiful colours, well-crafted character designs and surreal backgrounds. It also succeeds in looking like and capturing the atmosphere of classic horror films. The soundtrack is zany with some haunting moments that enhance the ghoulish surprises that are apparent here. The storytelling is rock-solid all the way through, the ending is thrilling in how surreal and ghostly the animation and atmosphere are especially and the message of humanity in the face of fear is a wonderful one and incorporated in a way that doesn't come across as preachy. The writing is hilarious and clever, with witty dialogue and great references for adults to savour to Halloween, Friday the 13th and a few others. There are also times where ParaNorman has an emotional core, and this isn't done in a manipulative way, in alternative it is done in a genuinely heartfelt way. Some have complained that some parts are too scary, something I didn't find, indeed there are some spooky scares but not overly so and they suited the story and atmosphere seamlessly. I loved the characters as well, they are not the most original in hindsight but still hugely engaging and fantastically developed. The voice acting from all involved is terrific. All in all, an outstandingly good movie, animated and otherwise. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In Blithe Hollow, lonely Norman Babcock can talk to the dead but only his new friend Neil believes him. The town is in fact under a curse casted by a witch centuries ago. Now, Norman and his friends must save the town.

Chris Butler wrote and directed this stop-motion animation movie. He is best known as the art director of Coraline (2009) and Corpse Bride 2005). Certainly you get the same style of animation in this one as well. This is a simple outsider must save the day story. It does get dark dealing with death later on. It might be a tough watch for the little ones. It works out fine in the end. It's a good ghost story if the kids can take it.