THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS – Review

Having director Eli Roth, the modern architect of ‘Torture Porn’ helm a child-friendly, PG-rated horror-comedy, seems like a head-scratcher. And while Roth, best known for GREEN INFERNO, HOSTEL, and CABIN FEVER (not to mention this year’s outstanding DEATH WISH remake) fails to bring much vision or personality to THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS, his adaptation of a Young Adult novel by  John Bellairs is still just enough fun to recommend. Owen Vacarro stars as 10-year-old Lewis Barnavelt, who travels to New Zebedee, Michigan in 1955 to live with his eccentric Uncle Jonathan Barnavelt (Jack Black) after having recently been orphaned. As soon as he arrives, things get a bit weird. Uncle Jonathan goes about at night banging at the walls with an axe. Turns out he’s a warlock and when he bought the house years ago, he was told there’s a clock t that he won’t be able to find ticking within its walls. Jonathan, along with nutty neighbor Florence. Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), a witch, take Lewis under their wing, teaching him the fine art of sorcery just in time to face off with a variety of otherworldly beasts and the malevolent ghost of Isacc Izard (Kyle MacLachlan) the house’s previous tenant.

I won’t try to argue there’s much more depth here than the average YA adaption, but within that simple formula, THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS  finds a lot of room for humanity and laughs, embracing the over-the-top combo of kid-size creep-outs and cheeky humor. Though never excessively scary, the monsters aren’t wimpy creations either. Some highlights include a battle with vomiting jack-o-lanterns, a farting topiary lion, a bedroom full of sinister dolls, and the disturbing sight of Jack Black’s head on a rubbery baby’s body.

Young Owen Vacarro deserves special praise as Lewis. He brings the right combo of awkwardness and charm that turns an otherwise bland lead character into someone I found myself cheering for. Black’s performance as Jonathan Barnavelt hits the perfect tone, switching from protective Uncle to manic Jack on a dime without ever overstepping the bounds of the character. Blanchett is less successful in an underwritten part while MacLachlan makes for an impressively ghoulish specter.

Roth is clearly going to for a Tim Burton-style fantasy with plenty of wonderfully detailed steampunk-style production and costume design (and Nathan Barr’s Elfman-eque score), but it all seems visually over-familiar and the director fails to ratchet up much tension. THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS is unlikely to stick with the viewer for long but fortunately, at 104 minutes, it breezes by and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
3 of 5 Stars