The scariest children’s horror movie on streaming is nightmare fuel for all ages

According to Jonathan Klotz
| Published 11 seconds ago

Truly disturbing horror films don’t always involve gruesome kills like those in the Terrifier series, grotesque imagery from a David Cronenberg film, or scares. Scream; in fact, they can be wonderfully animated and colorful, as is the case with Coraline. It can be hard to explain to someone who hasn’t seen the film just how disturbing the film is, but that’s part of what makes it such a great and fantastic introduction to horror. The story of a young girl who stumbles into another world begins gently, but like a frog in boiling water, the audience realizes what they are in for too late.

Gothic horror for children

Coraline is a bored 11-year-old girl who discovers a strange passage in her family’s new home that takes her to a world just like herself, except her parents dote on her, smother her with love, and they all have strange buttons over their eyes. The “Other World” is full of temptation to get her to stay, and her “Other Mother” makes this offer, except she has to have buttons sewn over her eyes to stay. It’s honestly not much of an offer, and it’s very obvious that the “Other Mother” is up to no good, but it’s not a mystery; it’s a gothic horror.

Gothic horror focuses on the eerie and 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” captures that sense of unease before you see how everyone is doing. doppelganger acts “off”. Coraline eventually introducing ghosts, another staple of the genre, before it all comes together for a happy ending.

The really disturbing part Coraline not a visual, but a temptation, knowing that the “other world” is wrong, but you feel the young girl weighing her options and thinking about it. Beyond the supernatural and horror, gothic horror is all about heightened emotion and passion that overwhelms all common sense, and that’s what’s disturbing about this story. We know it’s dangerous, we know it’s wrong, and Coraline knows the same, but there’s still that little part that thinks, “What if?”

Handmade horror puppetry

Although a disturbing setting and a strong story Coraline have helped create a lasting fan base, the visuals definitely help. Animated by Laika, a studio originally founded by the legendary animator Will Vintonthe stop-motion image enhances the sense of unreality that pervades the entire film. Although aided by CGI imagery, thousands of models were produced for the film with over a hundred physical sets built to support elaborate puppetry working not only behind the main characters but even behind the background elements, from dancing flowers to haunting images.

Coraline is an impressive display of practical special effects, but it’s helped by a voice cast that includes Dakota Fanning as Coraline and Teri Hatcher as both versions of her mother, joined by Judge John Hodgman, Keith David and Ian McShane. But most impressively, the film was re-released in two reruns this year, once in the summer and again Halloweenin which she earned over $53 million. In 2024, 15 years after its original release in 2009.

Between the vivid, impressive yet gorgeous visuals and the well-crafted story, Coraline surpassed cult classics to become the most successful stop-motion animated film of all time and a true classic of cinema. If you’ve ever wanted to introduce someone to horror, there’s no better movie than this. Even if you’re a fan of Michael Myers, it’s still a fun movie that’s easy to watch at 100 minutes long, and last longer after the credits roll.

Coraline now streaming for free it’s Tubi.