Successfully balancing knockabout comedy and spooky chills, this stop-motion-animation fantasy... is a treat for kids and horror buffs alike and contains a heartening message: don’t mistreat misfits.

| Aug 9, 2024

Not only an effective gateway-horror for kids, it has genuine laughs and genuine frights, making for a spooky enough adventure for audiences of all ages.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 22, 2023

The movie has life in its veins and a good heart: the story becomes a delicate fairytale.

| Oct 31, 2022

It has deservedly become a go-to movie for horror fans of all ages to watch together during spooky season.

| Oct 27, 2022

With plenty of hilarious gags, horror movie references, and a general air of being engineered for anyone not in the mainstream, ParaNorman is bound to become a cult favorite.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 3, 2022

Combining visual flair and emotional intelligence, ParaNorman showcases the power of sincerity in storytelling.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Aug 17, 2022

Imaginatively designed and sharply scripted.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 15, 2021

... holds up incredibly well nearly 10 years later, but Butler's script as it uses the horror tropes we've come to know, flips them, chops them up, and gives us a frequently profound exploration of the destructive power of fear.

| Sep 15, 2021

Every child should see it.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 24, 2021

Gorgeous animation enhances a touching story about death and learning to accept what you don't understand.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2020

Jon Brion's original score is a perfect companion for the film with a sublime mixture of melancholy and madness along the way.

| Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 19, 2020

Scares blend with a strange gallows humor to create a fantastic movie that will get you as pumped up as it gets your kids.

| Original Score: A | Jul 11, 2020

The film's pleasures are in its spooky visuals, amusingly created characters and its indulgence in the cartoonishly macabre.

| Oct 14, 2019

[ParaNorman]... will entertain your whole family with its big, sweet, creepy heart.

| Jul 30, 2019

The puppetry is impressive-the ghosts and zombies are a feast for the eyes-and the stop-motion is fluid.

| Feb 28, 2019

My favorite part about this movie aside from the animation is this message... [that] even if we feel justified in our anger if we allow hate to take over our lives then then we become what we hate.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Feb 12, 2019

The movie is full of surprises, not the least of which is what those surprises actually are.

| Original Score: B | Jan 31, 2019

Whether or not you have children in your life, Paranorman deserves a spot on your Halloween watch list this year.

| Nov 8, 2018

Regardless of its flaws, the film is a sweet, funny take on horror films that turns many of the tropes of the genre on its head.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 4, 2018

It often feels as if it caters more to adults than kids, but I think the entire family can enjoy this one as long as your kids aren't too squeamish.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 1, 2018