Hide Your Children!!!

First off let me just say this: I loved Stardust. Classic, clever, witty, occasionally scandalous, and heartwarming. The story lacks originality here and there, but what doesn't these days? I actually read the Neil Gaiman book before seeing the film and was disappointed in neither. So imagine my dismay when I read Coraline. Then imagine my horror when I saw it. Recklessly marketed toward a very young crowd, I, an adult, was terrified. The book is innocent enough: girl caught in an Alice-Thru-the-Looking Glass nightmare, must find way out, monster follows. I especially thought the part in the book featuring the clever well-top tea party was unique and interesting (And of course, this, one of the only things I actually liked about the book, was omitted from the film). But altogether, as creative as this modernization of Alice is, THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. Here I am, at a theater surrounded by little kids, watching a mostly naked, extremely topheavy woman, clad only in three small seashells, bounce around in all her stop-motion-animation glory. Then she unzips herself. Evil vampire dogbats, a mute child with his face SEWN into an evil sneer, the constant threat that the main character's eyes will be removed and buttons sewn in their place, not to mention the aforementioned nastiness, are some of the countless reasons this should have been a horror film for adults, not something marketed as a harmless childrens' movie. A perfect example of this is a scene that was actually stolen from the horror movie The Ring/Ringu- I'm telling you, it is the exact same shot of the view from the bottom of the well being covered over. Even I got a little jumpy, during a particular scene where the 'Other Mother' is transformed into her true monstrous self, when a small child ran past my car in the parking lot (I saw this film at a drive-in.) Definitely not my cup of tea. Disturbing. Pan's Labyrinth dude-gets-his-face-cut-open disturbing.
Meanwhile, Stardust is still wonderful, mainly because its adult themes glide harmlessly over childrens' heads as they enjoy action, adventure, and high-seas/airship romance. Coraline leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, though at the best times we wish it would! No gory detail, including ghosts, death, mutilation, and every kid's worst nightmare- abandonment- is left out of this thing. The rabbit has pulled some scary needle and thread out of the hat on this one. It's sharp and I have but one point- it was irresponsible of the filmmakers to give what I'm sure has been hundreds of kids nightmares. I don't even have children and I wouldn't let my kids near this thing. I don't understand how Gaiman is responsible for these two very different stories- though I will give him credit, as the book Coraline is on the YOUNG ADULTS shelf at the library, where it belongs.