Coraline
Wikipedia
Halloween Movie Guide
Coraline is a 2009 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film directed and written for the screen by Henry Selick based on the 2002 novella of the same name by Neil Gaiman. The film depicts an adventurous girl named Coraline finding an idealized parallel world behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that the alternative world contains a dark and sinister secret.
Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones and her parents, Mel and Charlie, move into an old mansion that has been divided up and is now known as the Pink Palace Apartments. As her parents struggle to complete their gardening catalog, Coraline is often left alone. While using a dowsing rod she plucked from a bush in the garden, attempting to find a well nearby, she meets the landlady's grandson, Wybie Lovat, and the feral Black Cat who follows him around. During their conversation, Coraline is unimpressed with Wybie, and he informs her that her dowsing rod is poison oak, which gives her a rash on her palm. Later, she meets her new neighbors: Mr. Bobinsky, who is supposedly training a circus of mice, and retired burlesque actresses Misses Spink and Forcible. Wybie gives Coraline a button-eyed rag doll he discovered in his grandmother's trunk that eerily resembles her. Later, while she's exploring the house, the doll lures Coraline to a small door in the living room that is bricked up and can only be unlocked by a button-shaped key.
That night, a mouse guides Coraline through the door, a portal to a seemingly more colorful and cheerful version of her real home. Coraline meets her Other Mother and Other Father, button-eyed doppelgängers of her parents that appear more attentive and caring. After dinner, the Other Mother puts mud on her rash; she goes to sleep and awakens in the real world the next morning, finding her palm has healed. Wybie then tells her about his grandmother's twin sister who disappeared in the house as a child. Undeterred, Coraline visits the Other World the following night, entertained by the Other Bobinsky, who conducts a mouse circus for her and the Other Wybie, who has been rendered mute by the Other Mother to please Coraline. Coraline also encounters the Black Cat from the real world, who is able to speak in the Other World and likes to play "games" with the Other Mother, who hates cats. Each time she visits the Other World, Coraline goes to sleep there, and wakes up in the real world, increasingly displeased she didn't wake up in the Other World, and thinking her experiences of the previous night have all been a dream.
Coraline discovers her mother has locked the small door in the living room and hidden the key, saying she found rodent dung near the door, and to make Coraline feel safer. While her parents are out of the house, Coraline finds the key and unlocks the door, going to the Other World in the daytime for the first time. Once there, she finds the Other Mother is not present, but finds a note inviting her downstairs to the Other Spink and Forcible's vaudeville/cabaret show. Coraline attends, along with Other Wybie.
Afterward, the Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in the Other World forever, on the condition she have buttons sewn over her eyes. Horrified, Coraline goes to sleep, but when she wakes up, she's still in the Other World. She then demands to return home. The Other Mother transforms into a menacing version of herself and imprisons Coraline in the hallway mirror. There, Coraline meets the ghosts of the Other Mother's previous child victims, including Wybie's grandmother's sister. The spirits reveal that the Other Mother, whom they call the "Beldam," used the same doll Coraline had (each time disguised as the child in question,) to spy on them, taking advantage of their unhappiness and luring them into the Other World. After they agreed to let her sew buttons on their eyes, the Beldam "ate up" their lives, trapping their souls. Coraline promises to free them by finding their eyes. The Other Wybie frees her from the mirror and helps her escape back to the real world.
Coraline cannot find her parents, eventually realizing they have been kidnapped by the Beldam. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible give Coraline an adder stone, meant for bad/lost things. Wybie attempts to get the doll back from Coraline, and when she tries to tell him about the Other World, he runs away, thinking she's gone insane. That night, Coraline is woken by the Black Cat, who shows her that her parents are trapped in the hallway mirror. She returns to the Other World, finding it is now dark and nightmarish, to rescue her parents, but the Beldam locks the door and swallows the key. Following the Cat's advice, Coraline proposes a game: if she can find the ghosts' eyes and her parents, they will all go free; if not, she will remain in the Other World and let the Beldam sew buttons over her eyes.
Using the stone (which can see through illusions) to find the children's eyes, Coraline ventures out into the now-hostile Other World; with each eye she collects, part of the Other World disintegrates until only the living room is left. Coraline sees the Beldam in her true form, a metallic skeletal-arachnid creature with needle-like hands. The ghost of Wybie's grandmother's sister warns her that even if she wins, the Beldam will never let her go. Thinking quickly, Coraline tricks the Beldam into unlocking the portal. While the Beldam is distracted, the Cat finds her parents trapped in a snow globe on the mantle. Coraline throws the Cat at the Beldam's face and grabs the snow globe; the Cat scratches her button eyes out and escapes. Blinded, the Beldam attempts to trap Coraline, converting the living room into a metallic web, but Coraline climbs to the now-open door, and with help of the ghosts, she manages to close and lock it, severing the Beldam's right hand in the process.
Coraline's parents reappear in the real world with no memory of what happened to them. That night, the ghost children appear in Coraline's dream to thank her for freeing them, but warn her that the Beldam, as long as she is alive, she will never stop looking for the key. Coraline decides to drop it down the old well, but before she does, the Beldam's severed hand attacks her. Wybie, who has realized Coraline was telling the truth, arrives and, after a struggle, smashes the hand with a stone. Coraline ties the smashed hand and the key to the stone with a blanket, and together they throw everything into the well and seal it shut.
Soon after, Coraline and her parents, who have finally finished their catalog, host a garden party for their neighbors. Wybie brings his grandmother, Mrs. Lovat, and Coraline prepares to tell her about her sister's fate.
Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones and her parents, Mel and Charlie, move into an old mansion that has been divided up and is now known as the Pink Palace Apartments. As her parents struggle to complete their gardening catalog, Coraline is often left alone. While using a dowsing rod she plucked from a bush in the garden, attempting to find a well nearby, she meets the landlady's grandson, Wybie Lovat, and the feral Black Cat who follows him around. During their conversation, Coraline is unimpressed with Wybie, and he informs her that her dowsing rod is poison oak, which gives her a rash on her palm. Later, she meets her new neighbors: Mr. Bobinsky, who is supposedly training a circus of mice, and retired burlesque actresses Misses Spink and Forcible. Wybie gives Coraline a button-eyed rag doll he discovered in his grandmother's trunk that eerily resembles her. Later, while she's exploring the house, the doll lures Coraline to a small door in the living room that is bricked up and can only be unlocked by a button-shaped key.
That night, a mouse guides Coraline through the door, a portal to a seemingly more colorful and cheerful version of her real home. Coraline meets her Other Mother and Other Father, button-eyed doppelgängers of her parents that appear more attentive and caring. After dinner, the Other Mother puts mud on her rash; she goes to sleep and awakens in the real world the next morning, finding her palm has healed. Wybie then tells her about his grandmother's twin sister who disappeared in the house as a child. Undeterred, Coraline visits the Other World the following night, entertained by the Other Bobinsky, who conducts a mouse circus for her and the Other Wybie, who has been rendered mute by the Other Mother to please Coraline. Coraline also encounters the Black Cat from the real world, who is able to speak in the Other World and likes to play "games" with the Other Mother, who hates cats. Each time she visits the Other World, Coraline goes to sleep there, and wakes up in the real world, increasingly displeased she didn't wake up in the Other World, and thinking her experiences of the previous night have all been a dream.
Coraline discovers her mother has locked the small door in the living room and hidden the key, saying she found rodent dung near the door, and to make Coraline feel safer. While her parents are out of the house, Coraline finds the key and unlocks the door, going to the Other World in the daytime for the first time. Once there, she finds the Other Mother is not present, but finds a note inviting her downstairs to the Other Spink and Forcible's vaudeville/cabaret show. Coraline attends, along with Other Wybie.
Afterward, the Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in the Other World forever, on the condition she have buttons sewn over her eyes. Horrified, Coraline goes to sleep, but when she wakes up, she's still in the Other World. She then demands to return home. The Other Mother transforms into a menacing version of herself and imprisons Coraline in the hallway mirror. There, Coraline meets the ghosts of the Other Mother's previous child victims, including Wybie's grandmother's sister. The spirits reveal that the Other Mother, whom they call the "Beldam," used the same doll Coraline had (each time disguised as the child in question,) to spy on them, taking advantage of their unhappiness and luring them into the Other World. After they agreed to let her sew buttons on their eyes, the Beldam "ate up" their lives, trapping their souls. Coraline promises to free them by finding their eyes. The Other Wybie frees her from the mirror and helps her escape back to the real world.
Coraline cannot find her parents, eventually realizing they have been kidnapped by the Beldam. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible give Coraline an adder stone, meant for bad/lost things. Wybie attempts to get the doll back from Coraline, and when she tries to tell him about the Other World, he runs away, thinking she's gone insane. That night, Coraline is woken by the Black Cat, who shows her that her parents are trapped in the hallway mirror. She returns to the Other World, finding it is now dark and nightmarish, to rescue her parents, but the Beldam locks the door and swallows the key. Following the Cat's advice, Coraline proposes a game: if she can find the ghosts' eyes and her parents, they will all go free; if not, she will remain in the Other World and let the Beldam sew buttons over her eyes.
Using the stone (which can see through illusions) to find the children's eyes, Coraline ventures out into the now-hostile Other World; with each eye she collects, part of the Other World disintegrates until only the living room is left. Coraline sees the Beldam in her true form, a metallic skeletal-arachnid creature with needle-like hands. The ghost of Wybie's grandmother's sister warns her that even if she wins, the Beldam will never let her go. Thinking quickly, Coraline tricks the Beldam into unlocking the portal. While the Beldam is distracted, the Cat finds her parents trapped in a snow globe on the mantle. Coraline throws the Cat at the Beldam's face and grabs the snow globe; the Cat scratches her button eyes out and escapes. Blinded, the Beldam attempts to trap Coraline, converting the living room into a metallic web, but Coraline climbs to the now-open door, and with help of the ghosts, she manages to close and lock it, severing the Beldam's right hand in the process.
Coraline's parents reappear in the real world with no memory of what happened to them. That night, the ghost children appear in Coraline's dream to thank her for freeing them, but warn her that the Beldam, as long as she is alive, she will never stop looking for the key. Coraline decides to drop it down the old well, but before she does, the Beldam's severed hand attacks her. Wybie, who has realized Coraline was telling the truth, arrives and, after a struggle, smashes the hand with a stone. Coraline ties the smashed hand and the key to the stone with a blanket, and together they throw everything into the well and seal it shut.
Soon after, Coraline and her parents, who have finally finished their catalog, host a garden party for their neighbors. Wybie brings his grandmother, Mrs. Lovat, and Coraline prepares to tell her about her sister's fate.