ParaNorman (2012) Review – A Spooky and Heartfelt Stop-Motion Masterpiece

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are reviewing the stop-motion horror comedy ParaNorman.

The perfect gateway horror movie?

Norman, voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee, is a somewhat misunderstood 11-year-old boy living in the fictional town of Blithe Hollow in Massachusetts. Ostracised and bullied by the people around him, Norman has the ability to talk to the dead. He frequently has conversations with his deceased grandma (Elaine Stritch in her last performance before her 2014 death) and his walk to school is populated by the ghosts of the many people who have passed away in the town.

“Believe it or not, this is a kid’s movie that actually delivers on the horror element in a big way. It features a serious underlying plot and some genuinely intense scenes.”

After conversing with the spirit of a deceased man, Norman is told that something awful is about to strike the town and he is the only person who can stop it. All he has to do, is to take a book from the cold dead hands of the deceased man’s corpse. Oh and head deep into the woods to read a vengeful witch a bedtime story. Easy, right?

Before we actually talk about the movie itself, we have to ask the question of whether this is the perfect gateway horror for kids? It has everything – a misunderstood child, tons of ghosts, camaraderie, enough scares to be a little frightening, and a moral lesson at the end. It’s perfect! I should probably point out however, although comedy is the focus, ParaNorman may be a little bit too scary for very young children.

Believe it or not, this is a kid’s movie that actually delivers on the horror element in a big way. It features a very serious underlying plot based on the horrific witch trials of the 1600s and some of the scenes are genuinely quite sad. The last twenty minutes can be pretty intense, as well.

It was up against stiff competition

ParaNorman released around the same time as Tim Burton’s stop-motion horror comedy Frankenweenie. It was entirely expected to take a backseat to Disney’s high-profile release but it came out swinging. I might actually prefer this movie if I am being honest. Either way, I think it is fair to say that Laika’s ParaNorman held its own despite the competition. It never condescends to the viewer, it manages enough cheeky humour to keep adults entertained, and it does it in a way that doesn’t feel derivative.

ParaNorman, in my opinion, has carved out its very own place near the top of the animated horror genre spectrum. A lot of that is down to how it manages to separate itself from the competition. In a lot of ways, it feels a bit more mature. It asks the viewer, whatever age, to actually listen to what it is saying and to observe the societal cues that hint at its rather serious subject-matter. ParaNorman actually teaches a lesson of acceptance without pointing the finger which is really rather clever.

It takes itself seriously but also places a high value on being thoroughly enjoyable, too. It’s a delicate balancing act but it manages it with finesse. I should also point out how high geared the movie is. ParaNorman gets to the action quickly and then never lets up. Children are likely to find it easier to stay engaged purely due to this focus on early escalation. There’s very few down moments and, sure, the plot might suffer for that but it keeps it entertaining throughout.

Beautifully animated

ParaNorman is almost as gorgeous as Laika’s previous movie Coraline. It shares the same 3D-printed parts technology as its predecessor. Whereas Coraline used black and white 3D printers, ParaNorman became the first stop-motion film in history to use full-colour 3D-printed parts for its models. This leads to characters popping right off the screen while retaining the same wide range of facial expressions as its predecessor.

“ParaNorman became the first stop-motion film in history to use full-colour 3D-printed parts. This leads to characters popping right off the screen while retaining a wide range of facial expressions.”

ParaNorman‘s animation is very smooth for stop-motion, too. At times if almost feels like a CG movie. Sets are decently large and full of interesting landmarks, scenes are busy and full of life, lighting is fantastic, and there’s tons of atmosphere. It’s all just very nice to look at. There is a heavy use of green hues and shadows that make the movie feel almost as if it came out of the 80s. This movie was made for 3D so you might notice some of those token shoehorned-in bits but it’s not distracting.

Character designs are unique and highly stylised. Though much of the cast is somewhat cookie-cutter, the hilarious design choices really help them to stand out. Norman’s mall girl sister Courtney, voiced by Anna Kendrick, is your typical blonde-haired valley-girl type character. Her ridiculously wide hips and tiny waist however, add a hilarious twist to this look. Equally, Neil’s jock brother Mitch, voiced by controversial actor Casey Affleck, is farcically broad-shouldered and muscular. None of the designs here are plain, they are always highly comical despite the stereotypical nature of the characters.

Decent voice acting

Voice acting is decent throughout. Featuring a well-known cast, Kodi Smit-McPhee is fine as Norman. Anna Kendrick is very fitting as mall girl Courtney. John Goodman is excellent as Mr. Prenderghast, as is Leslie Mann and Jeff Garlin as Norman’s parents. Casey Affleck is pretty uninspired as Mitch but the character still has some hilarious lines. I felt as though Christopher Mintz-Plasse didn’t have much to work with as fairly dull bully Alvin but he does okay with what he has.

“This is a perfect option for family Halloween viewing and a great choice for a first horror movie. Hilarious, touching, often scary and thoroughly enjoyable.”

Underrated actor Jodelle Ferland makes an appearance as Aggie and, as usual, she is great. She offers a sense of nuance and depth to an incredibly sympathetic character. The standout performance for me however, was Tucker Albrizzi as Neil. He is by far the highlight of the entire film and his delivery is spot on. There is one scene in particular, where he tells Norman to throw a stick for his dead dog. It’s a simple sequence but Albrizzi’s delivery of the lines had me laughing my ass off.

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