We discuss 10 Movies like Coraline you must watch. Add these well-recommended exciting films to your watch list.
Director Henry Selick is known for his stop-motion animation and is extremely talented. After working on The Nightmare Before Christmas — which is featured on this list — he worked on Coraline.
The reason why Coraline felt like a stroke of genius from a child’s perspective is that Neil Gaiman co-wrote the screenplay with Selick. It was adapted quite well through the stop-motion for the big screen.
This story is about an adventurous 11-year-old girl named Coraline (Dakota Fanning) who finds another world that is a creepy and fantastical version of her frustrating home life with her parents. In a way, it felt like a projection of the worst thoughts she could possibly have and the internal struggle she has been battling.
The films on this list have the same sinister undertones with deep stories that many can relate to. The very obscurity of these characters facing universal problems with strong visual storytelling sets these concepts apart from other films.
10 Movies like Coraline you must watch
Corpse Bride (2005)
From the mind of Tim Burton comes an animated film about a shy groom who practices his wedding vows in the presence of a dead woman. In doing so, she rises from the grave, assuming he has married her. This falls under gothic romance, and the story between them is unexpectedly strong because of the love shared between them.
Frankenweenie (2012)
Tim Burton returns to the world of the dead by exploring the grief of a young boy who has lost his beloved dog. He attempts to bring his pet back to life through a powerful science experiment—a more charming version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The marriage between Henry Selick’s stop-motion animation, Tim Burton’s direction, and Danny Elfman’s artistry made for one of the most iconic holiday movies ever. We meet Jack Skellington, who is the King of Halloween Town.
One day he discovers Christmas Town and attempts to bring Christmas into his world. To this day, no one can decide if it’s a Christmas or Halloween movie.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Tim Burton has always tapped into the obscure and the underappreciated. In Beetlejuice, the spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home and hired a malicious spirit to drive them out.
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
By now, Hayao Miyazaki has made a strong name for himself, and Howl’s Moving Castle is one of his best to date. A spiteful witch curses a young woman with an old body. Her only chance of breaking the spell is to see another young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.
ParaNorman (2012)
ParaNorman has different animation and is about a misunderstood boy who takes on the supernatural all by himself to protect his town from a centuries-old curse. Co-directors Christ Butler and Sam Fell both did a great job balancing the horror and the comedy in this film.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Another obscure Tim Burton film has Johnny Depp in the starring role. Edward lives a solitary life of a man who has scissors for his hands. He is taken in by a suburban family, and they all change his life. Including the young daughter, played by Winona Ryder, who ends up falling in love with him.
Monster House (2006)
In a way, this film is inspired by the house where Pennywise resides for the Losers Club in IT by Stephen King, and it’s a great spin on it. Three teens discover that their neighbor’s house is actually living. It breathes, and they find out that it’s a scary monster.
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
A Dr. Seuss story isn’t as dark as any of the other films listed here, but the movie version of The Cat in the Hat almost comes off as something sinister. Bo Welch directed the movie with Mike Myers as the title character, and it is lightly twisted to suit the films on this list.
The Boxtrolls (2014)
This film is about a young orphan boy who underground trash collectors raise, and he has to save everyone from an evil exterminator set to wipe them out without knowing they’re even there in the first place.
Do you have any other recommendations for 10 Movies like Coraline? Let us know in the comments below.
