I regret not reading reviews before seeing this with my children. From the advertising, I thought it'd be ok for kids and didn't look very scary. I was so wrong. Some helpful reviews if you haven't seen it are from: missbunhead, ParkerH, peony,and AmyB. I'd recommend reading these because they give good details of the iffy aspects of the movie and explain some of the reasons why other people said what they did. I, personally, hated it. The first half was dark, slow, and left you wondering what in the world the story was about. It leads to intense and disturbing scenes that can be very difficult for some to see or hear. I should have left with my 2 younger ones,(4.8 and 6.5), but stayed because my husband and 8y/o daughter didn't see how it was too scary. I would compare it to The Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock. It was well done, had good animation, and had an unusual storyline. I guess I can say that about it. I just don't like scary movies, period. I'd rather see films that make me feel good afterward and leave me thinking that yes, there is good in the world. I'm a bit more sensitive and so are my children(I'll admit that). They are very sweet, kind, loving kids, and I think if this describes your child then don't take them. I wish I wouldn't have seen it, but as I said earlier, my husband thought it was fine. The parts that disappointed me the most were: the old lady with massive, bouncing breasts having tiny stars covering her nipples and wearing a nearly unseen thong because her fat almost covered it all; the immense intensity of the creepy, scary scenes (which is nearly the whole movie); the thought of having buttons sewn on your(the girl's) eyes and on the mouth(the boy); the ghost children who lost their souls to the evil spiderwoman who had sewn buttons on their eyes; the swear word, and the thought that your parents might not be real and will eventually betray and abuse you. My 4&6 yr-olds had their eyes covered, curling up to me the whole last half of the film. But like I said, my children are happy, pleasant, kind children who wouldn't want to hurt anyone. They both had 2 bad dreams that my husband and I had button eyes within 2 weeks of seeing it, and my 4y/o has strongly requested multiple times to never see it again. I reassured her we won't. I'm surprised at how many children enjoyed this movie. I agree with missbunhead that this could be because of neglectful parents with little real morals. For those reading reviews from others who rated this movie as good, take a look at some of their usernames.

Very good movie, but I would agree with other viewers that it is too scary for children 8 and under. I thought our 8 y/o daughter would be ok, as she has seen other scary movies such as Narnia and Harry Potter, but this is way creepier. She spent the last half of the movie in her father's lap. And we didn't even see it in 3D! So much for animation being less scary! I wish I had read the reviews before going!

I'd only heard or read positive reviews of this movie before I took my 10 and 6 year old kids to see it. Certainly it was visually amazing, but the fat old lady with huge breasts wearing only pasties was shocking and unnecessary, and the "other mother" goes from being slightly creepy to really, really frightening. I would say that any kids under 11, especially those with a vivid imagination, should be kept away from this movie. Imagine going to bed with 3-d images of an alternate universe on the other side of your wall, where there's a murderous, skeletal, spidery witch waiting to sew buttons over your eyes with a sharp needle, then kill you. No thanks. Both of my little kids have asked to sleep with me tonight. To be fair, my 18 and 13 year old kids went to see it together and absolutely loved it. So, an artistic wonder, to be sure, and creative story, but meant for bigger kids.

theanimation and everything was great

This movie was a family favorite (not including when my newest one was born). My family really enjoyed this. Even though there were moments were it scared my 5 year old. It was a really good movie.

I had not read the book previously, so I believe I can give a decent review of the movie. The premise is definitely dark, but appealing. Coraline is a likable character. Her distracted parents cause her to wish for a better world/family. Personally, I wouldn't take children to this movie, and I was concerned for the 4yrs through teen crowd that was in the theater. There is a fairly long scene in which the two older ladies do a stage performance for Coraline and her friend, that is totally inappropriate for children. The first lady was dressed in a mermaid costume. While her sister was in a g-string and pasties! This grandmother aged woman had disproportionately large breasts and was swinging on a trapeze. this scene was not necessary to the movie's plot, and lasted for a seemingly long time. There were gasps, and then total silence. I don't believe anyone in our theater appreciated that scene, other than the two early teen boys.

I mistakenly let my 5 year old watch this movie when given to her by a friend. Although the movie was very well made. It is defenatly unsutable for children under 9. Very disturbing, morbid images and a storyline not condusive to a child younger than 9.

I had my Father in law take my eight year old and my 6 year old to see this movie. First of all, I had no idea that 3-D movies cost so much. Secondly, the movie scared both of them. My eight year old who is never scared of anything seemed fine when she came home from the movie, but cried at night because the movie frightened her. She could not go to sleep without all of the lights on. My son had to sleep with us. Although it is a good movie with a nice plot, I would not recommend this movie to anyone in elementary school. This is more for Middle School aged children and older. I wish that the media would have stressed this. Thank you.

Visually enchanting eye-candy, with a smart, loyal, determined heroine their own age, this is a movie that I'd consider a fine choice for young teens: it's scary without any gore and with almost no overt violence. The scariness comes mostly by implication. But it's quite iffy for pre-teens. It has disturbing imagery and unsettling themes. Some kids in the 8-11 year old range are fine with it. For others, especially those more sensitive or imaginative, or for whom some element strikes more close to home, it will be disturbingly scary rather than fun. I personally wouldn't take a kid younger than 10 (though I do know a couple of younger kids who saw it, liked it, and are baffled that some would think it too scary.) Know your kid -- and take a look at the very different reactions reported by some preteens vs. other preteens. This movie is okay only for SOME preteens. Note that the movie is rather less scary than the book: the visual loveliness, plus some softening of the story, take some of the scary edge off in the movie. For adult viewers, it's visually charming, but perhaps a bit slight (4 stars). For young teens (12+), an excellent movie (5 stars). For preteens, ages 8-10 or 11, iffy.