The House with a Clock in Its Walls

Director Eli Roth is more accustomed to making films targeted at an older audience, and, while this is no criticism, it does show here, through the medium of jump-scares and certain scenes that are likely to make your skin crawl if you’re a child. With that said, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is also likely to be a kind of gateway film into the horror genre for kids who are taking their first forays into the wonderful world of cinema and are dabbling in a variety of different genres to see which ones they like the best. This film is not necessarily inherently scary, but it is likely to give younger kids a bad dream or two if they’ve an overactive imagination. It may also put them off pumpkins this year, so well done to screenwriter Eric Kripke and author John Bellairs, who wrote the book that this film is adapted from. And just in time for Hallowe’en, too. This film is by no means high art, and follows a rather formulaic approach to storytelling in this medium, but it gets the job done and the underscoring horror aspect is made believable by Owen Vaccaro more than his adult costars Jack Black and Cate Blanchett.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls follows Lewis Barnavelt (Vaccaro), who has to go and live with his whacky, estranged uncle, Jonathan (Black), following the death of his parents. Black gives a perfectly Jack Black performance here, so if you’re looking for a bit of familiarity in regards to the actor’s particular brand of antics, then the least I can say is that you’re in safe hands. And while the banter between him and Blanchett is there more for the kids’ entertainment than anything else, it does fall a bit flat at times, no matter how much the two Hollywood A-Listers attempt to elevate the material beyond PG-level cursing (yes, I’m aware that this is a 12A film, but for all intents and purposes it could have been a PG, albeit one that pushes the boundaries of that age rating). It is perhaps the only misstep to this film overall, but even in between the insults thrown back and forth, it is evident that the two adults do care for each other to the point where it does feel authentic.

There is a subplot involving both Lewis and fellow classmate Tarby Corrigan (Sunny Suljic) who bond and become friends. This highlights how weird Lewis is when we first meet him, how estranged he is, and how much of a loner he is (arguably not helped by the goggles that he wears on his forehead). This sense of aloneness is exemplified by the fact that Lewis is the last person to be picked in PE, when the kids are choosing teams to play basketball. While this subplot may feel added in to otherwise beef out the runtime, it does eventually tie into the overall plot of the movie, so it does have its merits, even if it ends in a rather asinine way. At first this is a shame, but the film quickly makes you forget about said subplot as you’re drawn into what really matters in the story, and at no point do you feel as if anything has been added unnecessarily, if only because the setup leading to the eventual third act climax was all laid out rather succinctly. And even the antagonist has a backstory that explains his motivations, so you’re not left wondering just what is going on and why he’s doing what he’s doing.

Long time readers will know I often lament about how everything in storytelling is necessary to the plot, no matter how obscure it may seem at the time, and yet there were occasional moments during The House with a Clock in Its Walls that felt just a bit too convenient for my liking. Yes, I’m nitpicking, as this film does more than a fine job of not only telling a story, but doing so in such a way that kids will probably want repeat viewings. It’s enjoyable for what it is, and doesn’t try to be anything more than what it needs to be. Younger viewers may even learn a few new words along the way (although parents may most likely have to explain a few of them, such as ‘indomitable’), so extra points for being both fun and expanding viewers’ knowledge of the English language. Everything had its place, but I can’t help but feel that this film could have been a bit more enjoyable had they thrown in a couple more curveballs than they did. One of these curveballs was something I saw coming, but that’s more down to familiarity with certain storytelling tropes than any fault on the creators’ part. The House with a Clock in Its Walls is a family friendly film that is a gateway into the horror genre for kids, packed with jump scares and scary pumpkins, but probably won’t be that memorable beyond its target audience.