Fiendish Films For Ghouls, Girls & Boys [DVD]

Featuring: Coraline, Casper, Cirque Du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant and 9.

Coraline:
Based on Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling book and helmed by The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick. In the film, a young girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life--only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit other mother (voiced by Teri Hatcher) tries to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her stubborn determination, bravery, the aid of her neighbours and a talking black cat to save her real parents and some ghost children and to get back home.
Subtitles: English SDH, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish

Casper: (Amazon.co.uk review)
The 1995 family film Casper tries to put a fun spin on the story of a paranormalist and widower (Bill Pullman) who moves into a new house with his daughter (Christina Ricci) and meets up with the ghost of a dead little boy. Based on the comic book about Casper the friendly ghost, the film is a dreary series of awkward interactions between live actors and computer effects, and you can almost see Pullman and Ricci reconsidering the project while on camera. A few cameo appearances from uncredited stars help things a bit. But there's no way, based on this film, that one could have guessed that its director, Brad Silberling, would go on to make the exceptional drama City of Angels. This special edition DVD release includes a director's commentary and exhaustive 47-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, plus games and DVD-ROM content for the kids. --Tom Keogh
Subtitles: English SDH

Cirque Du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant: (Amazon.co.uk review)
Adapted from Darren O'Shaughnessy's book series the Saga of Darren Shan, Cirque du Freak: A Vampire's Assistant is an endearingly goofy teen-vampire tale reminiscent of The Goonies or Lost Boys. Like those kids' horror classics, Cirque du Freak is a coming-of-age tale in which maturity is hastened by horrific discoveries of alternate realms. Best friends Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) and Steve (Josh Hutcherson) embark on a life-changing career path as monster prodigies after attending a taboo freak show starring various mutants and Madame Octa, a fluffy, neon orange, Muppetlike spider that Darren is irrevocably compelled to kidnap. Darren's petty theft results in the boys' introductions into the dualistic realm of good vampires, including the paternal Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly), and less-generous bloodsuckers such as Murlaugh (Ray Stevenson) and his Vampaneze family. Part of the fun is in learning how vampires are defined in this world; for example, they can't turn into bats but they have magic spit. The film's additional appeal is in its clever teen-vampire cultural nods, such as when Darren plays his Gameboy inside his coffin. The actual circus, too, offers a wide array of fun, spooky characters, such as ringleader Mr. Tall (Ken Watanabe) and Darren's scaly buddy Snakeboy (Patrick Fugit). Cirque du Freak: A Vampire's Assistant has tough moments, too, once the boys realize they can't look back. These moments transform Cirque du Freak: A Vampire's Assistant into a film parents may even be charmed by. --Trinie Dalton
Subtitles: English SDH, Arabic, Hungarian, Icelandic

9:
An action-packed adventure, director Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9 is the feature-length expansion of his Academy Award-nominated 2004 short film of the same name. The screenplay for the feature is by Pamela Pettler (Monster House); directors Tim Burton (Beetlejuice) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) are producing .Set in the near future. The world’s machines have turned on mankind and sparked social unrest - decimating the human population. But as our world falls to pieces, a mission begins to salvage the legacy of civilization, and a group of small “stitchpunk” creations is given the spark of life by a scientist - and they successfully survive the apocalypse! With their group being so small, these creatures must summon individual strengths well beyond their own proportions in order to outwit and fight against the still-functioning monster machines. 9 dynamically explores the will to live and how one soul can change the world.
Subtitles: English SDH, Ukrainian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian