I feel like I should have liked this way more than I did. The idea of shock horror director, Eli Roth, taking the helm of an Amblin production that serves as a family friendly Halloween film sounds like it would be right up my alley. In theory, at least. The film in question is The House With A Clock In Its Walls, an obnoxiously titled adaptation (courtesy of screenwriter, Eric Kripke) of the 1973 book of the same name by John Bellairs, which was the first in a series that lasted twelve installments.
I haven’t read the book, so I can’t speak to how accurate the film is compared to it, but it follows the recently orphaned 10 year old, Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro), who is taken in by his mysterious uncle, Jonathan (Jack Black). Turns out the place where Jonathan lives is even stranger, and soon learns that his uncle, as well as his friend, and next door neighbor, Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett) have magical abilities. Lewis is enamored by the world of magic and mysticism, but soon learns about the dangerous history of the house, specifically in regards to the bizarre ticking of a clock heard somewhere deep in the house.
The setup is pretty good, and it’s clear the filmmakers are having a blast, creating a delightfully Halloween-y vibe with how the house is designed. There’s jack-o-lanterns all around the front, an entire room is filled with dolls, mannequins, and statues, the house is also littered with furniture and paintings that come to life like something out of Harry Potter. The movie oozes of creativity, almost excessively so, but it works in evoking a specific style of horror. Unfortunately, the problem I tend to have with these kinds of children’s films is that the filmmaking sacrifices any lingering mood and atmosphere for complicated plotting and relentless pacing, which turned me off the recent (and probably the upcoming) Goosebumps movie. This film suffers in that regard, and it undoes some of the genuinely creepy imagery the filmmakers were apparently going for.
The biggest disappointment from the film is the fact that I found myself bored through a good chunk of the film’s second act. Lewis isn’t a particularly interesting or compelling character. The few things we learn about him are mostly superficial quirks meant to make him feel alienated, but it comes across too clunky, mechanical, and obvious in terms of how each quirk is meant to pay off because it’s something you’ve seen a million times already. I don’t want to be too critical of Vaccaro, but I’m curious if an alternate casting choice would’ve helped. He’s mostly known for being in the two Daddy’s Home films where he plays a broadly precocious youngster, and he’s not really given the most cohesive material here. I don’t know how the younger audience members will take to him, but the film doesn’t give him the chance to explore the feelings that come with discovering all the crazy stuff at his uncle’s place.
Thankfully, both Black and Blanchett are pretty terrific here. That shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise, they are both pros, and they effortlessly elevate the material. They often have this weirdly mean-spirited banter, the kind that only two really close friends would have, and it’s a fun dynamic that you rarely see in movies aimed at kids. The film even hints at some of the things that they have gone through before, like at a moment where Florence said that despite how it their relationship might look, Jonathan has helped her out of bad situations in the past, and frankly, all the stuff with them sounds far more interesting than anything with the Lewis. Even the bits we see of Isaac Izzard’s (Kyle MacLachlan) past is far more intriguing. It’s strange to say that this film aimed at kids would be a lot better if it weren’t for the kid, but that’s how it feels.
Having said that, The House With A Clock On Its Walls isn’t a bad film at all. It’s disappointing in aspects, but there is still quite a bit to admire. When Roth leans in on the deeply weird imagery and the legitimate feeling of danger in certain sequences, the film really takes off. I can’t help but applaud any film that goes out of its way to scare the kids in the audience because that’s something that is so rarely done nowadays. It’s not a great film, but it’s very well made, occasionally tense, and ultimately harmless (which isn’t something you could say about Roth’s last film), and for the intended audience, I can see it leaving an impression in a way that it couldn’t for me.