Review of movie The House with a Clock in Its Walls

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Rating:3.5/5

Set in 1955, a recently orphaned Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) moves to Michigan to live with his uncle, Jonathan Barnavelt (Jack Black). It soon becomes evident to Lewis that all is not as it seems with his peculiar uncle, and the house he lives in. He finds out that Jonathan and his neighbour Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett) are a warlock and witch respectively. Fortunately, they’re far from sinister although they are surrounded by evil forces, evident by a constant ticking in the walls. Lewis gradually studies witchcraft, while quickly learning that magic is no child’s play.

Director Eli Roth is known for his far more gruesome horror flicks, but that sensibility mostly works well here in his first children/ family film. Roth merges a sense of mystery with childlike wonder while maintaining an underlying feeling of dread because all is not what it seems. Adding to the film’s personality are Jack Black and Cate Blanchett – an odd pairing that works well precisely for that reason. You wouldn’t usually picture them playing off each other, yet they bring soul to the film with their platonic chemistry. Both actors venture towards camp but never fully into it. Black in his own unique style, lends his spirited and mischievous energy to Jonathan, complete with mandatory jamming on a musical instrument. Blanchett is deviously delightful as Florence, poised yet ruthless when needed. Their playful bickering alone could carry the film further than the script allows. Meanwhile, child actor Owen Vaccaro is a bit of a mixed bag; suitably conveying the distress of a lonely, awkward orphan but unable to maintain the right measure of emotional outbursts needed to make him believable.