With computer effects continuing to dominate the animated movie scene, it’s good to see an old-fashioned stop-motion animated picture on the big screen. Especially when said animated film features reanimated corpses, ghosts and other supernatural creatures.

Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and his gang experience another fright in "ParaNorman"

Much like 2009’s Coraline, Laika‘s ParaNorman is a 3-D horror adventure based on a book (written by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel and illustrated by Ross Stewart). Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is an unintentionally macabre little boy who lives in the equally morbid New England town of Blithe Hollow, which thrives off tourists’ curiousity about the witch hunts that took place there hundreds of  years ago. Given its haunted history, Blithe Hollow is naturally filled with the spirits of those who have died with yet-to-be-settled business in the mortal world. And Norman has a sixth sense, which means he sees these ghosts as he walks to school, watches TV or performs in school plays.

You’d think such abilities would be admired, especially in a town like his. But instead, Norman is an outcast at school and a disappointment to his parents (Jeff Garlin and Leslie Mann) who spends most of his time watching horror movies while having conversations with his grandmother (Elaine Stritch), whose ghost sits on the couch behind him. When crazy uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman) gives Norman the task of breaking a witch’s curse (just after comically keeling over, no less), Norman’s talents are suddenly appreciated as he is the only one who can communicate with the ghost of the witch (Jodelle Ferland) who wants her revenge on the town that cursed her to an unjust demise.

Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) attempts to break the witch's curse in "ParaNorman"

Norman races up witch mountain, encounters a bunch of zombies and is eventually saved by his vapid older sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick), his chubby friend Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), Neil’s jock brother Mitch (Casey Affleck) and Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), the school bully. The whole thing turns into a Goonies-like adventure as this unlikely gang fights off zombies, evades the police and tries to break the witch’s curse before she destroys the town. But no matter how many years have passed since those horrific witch trials, it doesn’t take long for the people of today’s Blithe Hollow to wage a new witch hunt as these supernatural events become harder and harder to ignore. And that only complicates things for Norman, who is suddenly tasked with more responsibility than he’s ever known before.

ParaNorman is definitely safe for kids, even with darkly comical moments including a segment when Norman is trying to pry a book out of his dead uncle’s hands, resulting in an awkward dance between child and corpse. But the references to classic horror movies ranging from Night of the Living Dead to Halloween will keep older horror fans happy, as will the sometimes crude dialogue. The redemptive quality of the story (not only for Norman, but for the witch and her one-time oppressors) keeps things lighthearted amidst the whimsically dark atmosphere. And while CGI has worked for similiar movies such as Monster House, ParaNorman probably wouldn’t have been given such vibrant life had it not been done in the stop-motion style.

ParaNorman. Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler. Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jeff Garlin and Leslie Mann. Rated PG. www.paranorman.com.