Coraline

The book is macabre kid-lit by a cult author. The director is an animator whose ghoulishly giddy feature debut, The Nightmare Before Christmas, is worshipped among shopping-mall misfits. Surely the notion of pairing Neil Gaiman’s book Coraline with stop-motion maverick Henry Selick was an inspired one, all but promising a perfect peanut-butter-and-chocolate combo for goth teens. Yet this adaptation feels frustratingly DOA.