A House With Clock in Its Walls (2018) Review

Kid-Friendly Scares Abundant in The House With a Clock in Its Walls 

A Spine-tinglingly Comedic Adventure for the whole family, The House With a Clock in Its Walls delivers a well-rounded movie that is just scary enough.

This movie is a perfect precursor to introducing children into the world of horror movies. It gives just the right amount of scares without the large jump scares and an overabundant amount of gore, that a lot of movies try to use. The House With a Clock in Its Walls has horror mixed with the right amount of comedy that allows people, young and old alike, to fully enjoy their movie experience. And by the crowd (it was full) at our theater around mid-day on a Friday, it seemed to work. The crowd itself mostly consisted of college and older adults, while only my kids and a handful of others were actually there. No one seemed to leave disappointed.

Cate Blanchett and Jack Black were an awesome pairing as Mrs. Zimmerman and Jonathan Barnavelt. They truly did bring magic into their roles as mentors, and protectors, of young Lewis, played by 12-year-old Owen Vaccaro (Daddy’s Home). I had my doubts that they might not pull it off, but I was surprised by how well they did.

This magical movie follows a 10-year-old, Lewis Barnavelt, as he travels to New Zebedee, Michigan to live with his uncle Jonathan, who he has never met before. This comes after a tragic car accident leaves Lewis an orphan with nowhere else to turn. But things don’t seem to be exactly right at his uncle’s house and Lewis slowly begins to discover just who his uncle and the next-door neighbor really are. All the while, he must try to find new friends and not stick out like a sore thumb at his new school. But through all of this, Lewis discovers just how “indomitable” he really is.

This movie was a complete hit with my family, even if my three boys thought that it might be a little more frightening than what it actually was based on the trailers. That’s saying a lot considering the contrasting interests of my kids. Take in that I also have a deep and abiding fear of horror movies, and still, this movie entertained us all. (That being said, you can still look forward to my review of Goosebumps 2 that will be released in a couple of weeks. My sons’ have not given me much of a choice.)

Are you going to the movies this weekend? Tell us which ones you are going to see and what ones send tingles down your spine during the Halloween season in the comments below.