the amazing, beautiful, spooky, and smart paranorman

Eleven year-old Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is not happy. His older sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick) doesn't like him much, his parents don't understand him, and the kids at school, most of them downright bullies like Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), think he's a freak. The only person who understands him is his loving grandmother (Elaine Stritch), which is great — except she's dead. Norman can talk to ghosts, and although he seems to enjoy his special ability at times, especially where Grandma is concerned, for most of the other aspects of his life it causes him a great deal of grief.

Norman and friends must save their town

Norman not only speaks with the dead, but he seems more comfortable with them than the living. His bedroom is covered from floor to ceiling with zombie and horror movie paraphernalia. His walk to school is populated by locals from every era, many of them who left this world in an unconventional, even gruesome fashion. To add to the spooky factor, Norman lives in a Salem-like town called Blithe Hollow, whose chief industry is tourism surrounding a local witch who was hanged 300 years ago, and whose commemorative statue is on the square outside City Hall.

Just as Norman is about to get some normalcy in his life — he has made his first real friend, Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), he is also informed by his uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman) that his ability to talk to the dead (which the recently deceased Prenderghast also shared) makes him Blithe Hollow's only hope. He must save the town by stopping the witch's curse — from raising the dead.

Neil: "So is it true?"
Norman: "What?"
Neil: "Do you see ghosts like everywhere, all the time?"
Norman: "Uh, yeah"
Neil: "Awesome! Do you think you can see my dog, Bub? He was ran over by an animal rescue van. Tragic and ironic. We buried him in the yard. Could you see him?"

ParaNorman, like its hero, is unusual and unexpected. It's stop-motion animation melded with computer graphics is positively amazing, even beautiful, to look at. It also doesn't pull any punches. It's downright scary and gross when it needs to be. Kids (and adults) will love it, as it features good old-fashioned monster-jumping-out-at-you thrills. But ParaNorman also has something to say, about bullying and the not-so-nice nature of humans through history. The people of Blithe Hollow are far more terrifying than many of the dead folks that Norman encounters. The film's re-enactment of Salem-like witch hunting may even cause some movie-goers to think while they're laughing at the in-jokes and enjoying the top-notch visuals.

The characters in ParaNorman are also a little off the norm. The designers and animators have not only given them exaggerated features, like super-wide hips and skinny waists for Norman's mom and sister, and elongated jaws and tiny foreheads for some of his not-so-smart neighbors, but they have actually tried to make some of the characters appear older, something unusual in current animated films, where every character has the same glossy, poreless sheen. Norman's mother sports some serious bags under her eyes and a poochy tummy, while his dad has a beer belly and tired expression. Norman himself has a lopsided nose and thick eyebrows (which other family members share) which add to his personality.

Portland, OR based Laika, whose first animated feature was Coraline, has done a magnificent job on ParaNorman. Its use of 3D printing technology, in its infancy when the company made Coraline in 2009, enables the animation studio to give Norman & Co. over 1 million facial expressions. Directors Sam Fell's (The Tale of Despereaux, Flushed Away) and Chris Butler's attention to detail and love of classic horror films shines from every scene. ParaNorman is a film to be savored, from the bristly hair on Norman's head, to beautiful shadows cast in a forest at night, to the way a zombie's lower jaw hangs precariously from his face. Good news for fans of the studio's work, Laika's next two rumored projects are adaptations of Wildwood, based on the debut children’s novel from Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), and Goblins, from the novel by Philip Reeve.” Like Norman, it looks like Laika's heart and talents lie with the strange and spooky.

my best friend is a vampire ... let me in

In Let Me In, Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a lonely, friendless kid. When he isn't being picked on by bullies at school he is being ignored by his classmates. At home his mother (Cara Buono) pays little attention to him. His parents are divorcing and she is frequently visually out of frame, either praying to a picture of Jesus or passed out from wine on the couch. His absent father is just as disembodied, a guilty but disinterested voice on the telephone. Outside his home in early '80s Los Alamos, New Mexico it is always cold and snowing.

Owen spends a lot of time outdoors at night alone for a 12-year old

Owen may be ignored by most, but he is acutely aware of everyone around him. He spies on his neighbors, peeping at them through a telescope. He dons a mask and playacts in front of his bedroom mirror. He acts out his frustrations on an innocent tree, stabbing it multiple times with a kitchen knife. He is a little serial-killer-in-training, invisible in the world, spending most of his free time sitting outside, in the dark, for hours. He is invisible that is, until he meets his new neighbor, Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz), who may be the best trainer for killers ever, as Abby is a vampire.

The movie is beautifully filmed and framed, every shot a framed photo. There are repeating, haunting images — of Abby walking barefoot in the snow, blood on white clothing, Owen and Abby studying themselves in mirrors, communicating with each other using Morse code by tapping out messages through their thin apartment walls.

Owen and Abby communicate through walls, from POURTANT, NOUS NE BOUGEA PAS

The film plays with gender and romanticism. When we first meet Owen he is bored when his English class assignment is to read Romeo and Juliet. Instead he teaches himself Morse code when he should be reading the Shakespeare play. But as he spends more time with Abby, who not only seems to like the play, but is able to quote it in a note to him, his mind and heart is opened. Both Owen and Abby are on the androgynous side. Owen is curious about sex. He watches his neighbors, especially ogling the women. But he is young and skinny and gawky and still a child.

Abby: Owen, do you like me?
Owen: Yeah. A lot.
Abby: Would you still like me ... even if I wasn't a girl?
Owen: What do you mean? I don't know. I guess. Why?
Abby: No reason.

Abby, as a vampire, is genderless. She has a real need for Owen. It is unclear how much of her attraction to him is driven by her need for a new protector/keeper or for genuine affection. Maybe for a vampire it doesn't matter. But they are both children, at least for the present, and can communicate together in ways that the outside world of adults is not privy to. They write each other notes as their relationship grows.

Dear Owen, I am in the bathroom. Please do not come in. Do you want to hang out with me again tonight? I really like you. Love, Abby.

Reflection is not a problem for Abby

The only weak feature was the fast-motion CGI camerawork when Abby would vamp out. It just seemed a bit out of place in this otherwise carefully-filmed movie. I have yet to see the Swedish film, Let the Right One In, on which Let Me In is based, or the novel on which both films are based. But I am curious if they will be as still, as beautifully composed and lit as this one. The music is also wonderful, the soundtrack composed by the great Michael Giacchino (LOST, Up). At the moment I don't have any plans to search them out, as I don't want to break the spell of this disturbing, yet beautiful film.