John Bellairs was an American author that specialized in Gothic mystery novels. While most of his works were geared towards a younger audience, their tone often sent chills down juvenile readers’ spines. He’s had over thirty works published, most of which were series. His most popular series follows a young orphan by the name of Lewis Barnavelt. The House with a Clock in Its Walls was the first novel of twelve and now non-readers, such as myself, get to explore this mysterious magical world. It’ll be interesting to see if director Eli Roth can pull this one off without being too scary.
After Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) became orphaned, he was put on a bus and shipped off to his estranged uncle Jonathan (Jack Black). Jonathan lives in a big intimidating house that appears, at first glance at least, to be a bit spooky. Adjusting to change, Lewis tries to find his bearings both in school and at home. Yet, he feels as though he’s not going to fit in nicely. It isn’t until Lewis notices that something is off with his new home that the fun really begins.
As it turns out, the house is enchanted with magic and his uncle Jonathan is a warlock. Then there’s Jonathan’s friend Florence (Cate Blanchett), I use that term loosely since the two of them are at each other’s throats like an old married couple. She turns out to have her own supernatural abilities. As secrets are revealed, the darkest one has yet to come to light. The story of The House with a Clock in Its Walls proves to be more sorted than Lewis could have ever imagined.
If Universal Pictures hopes to see a healthy return on their investment, they better hope that families are caught under the spell of hopeful entertainment and choose to come out in droves to see this. Being that The House with a Clock in Its Walls is rated PG for thematic elements including sorcery, some action, scary images, rude humor and language, it’ll be kind of a ‘tweener’ when it comes to the expected audience. Still though, if they get it right, this could be the beginning of a lucrative franchise. If it bombs, it’ll just go in the ever-growing pile of forgotten family franchises that have failed before even getting a sequel.
Eli Roth is definitely not known for making kid-friendly movies. Even though The House with a Clock in Its Walls is only rated PG, some of its content may still be a tad bit frightening for some of the little ones. This is just a cautionary statement to give parents a heads up. You know your children better than the MPAA, just keep that in mind for those that scare easily. There should also be lots of giggles thanks mostly to Jack Black. He knows how to present comedy in a fun, sometimes physical and silly manner. And Cate Blanchett’s prim and proper dry comedic tone is a nice complimentary chance of pace to her jolly co-star.
At 104 minutes, the runtime doesn’t seem long on paper. However, sitting though this, especially with younger children, restlessness can’t be ruled out. The pace of The House with a Clock in Its Walls moves decently enough, but there are a few instances that could have been trimmed or completely omitted and I would have been fine with the cinematographic sacrifice. The overall feel of the family fantasy is one of enjoyment and could be labeled as “Horror 101: A Introduction to Scary Movies“. It isn’t the best movie that’s in theaters right now but there’s enough entertainment to go around to satisfy most families. Check it out in theaters now.
