Our rating: ***
This is a spine tingling tale that’s perfect for Halloween so we were a little surprised to see it earlier in the UK.
It’s the magical tale of a 10 year old boy called Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) who goes to live with his mysterious uncle (Jack Black) in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. Everything looks normal and welcoming in the sleepy town at first but this façade burst into pieces with a secret hidden world of witches and warlocks when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.
Directed by Eli Roth who is better known for more adult horror movies such as Cabin Fever and Hostel, he expectedly tones down the gore but not the suspense in his first PG rated movie.
Lewis’s Uncle Jonathan is revealed as a Warlock with good intentions but average powers. His next door neighbor Florence (Cate Blanchett) spends so much time at the house they are forced to deny they are more than good friends – although the more alarming revelation should be that she’s actually a witch.
Uncle Jonathan let’s Lewis have the run of the house, can eat cookies for dinner and go to bed when he likes. The only rule is he is not to open the scary-looking cabinet on the main floor, so you’ll never guess what happens next…
The film is set in 1955 and the period detail is amazing. Eventually Lewis finds out what is happening and persuades his Uncle to teach him some spells and incantations. The sinister clock keeps ticking away and Lewis starts to see the ghost of his departed mother but these moments are more gentle scares than full on BOO! Jump scares.
There are enough unnerving moments in the movie to call it a comedy thriller and enough moments of actual drama and character development for adults to enjoy the movie and be invested in the characters. There are some scary moments when sensitive children should look away but ultimately bad guys get their comeuppance, good guys get their reward and if you are a fan of the early Harry Potter movies then you will absolutely love this.
There aren’t many kid friendly movies to introduce them to the concept of horror and danger but The House With a Clock in its Walls is the perfect bridge between them too, balancing the peril with fun.
