"The House With a Clock in It's Walls" is Occasionally Creepy, and Unique--and Sometimes Dull

By: Keaton Marcus

Genre/Fantasy

Age Rating/10+

Lemonradar/63% sweet/sour

So What’s The Story?

Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing Eli Roth’s newest direction, The House with a Clock in its Walls. When Luis’ parents die in a car crash, he is sent to live with his only other relative, his uncle Jonathan and his only other friend, Mrs. Zimmerman in a enormous magical mansion; However, when Luis accidentally awakens Isaac, an evil warlock, from the dead, he has a plan to restart the universe and erase all people with his “clock in the walls” that he implanted within the house one year ago when he performed an evil spell that ended up killing him.

How Was The Cast?

One of the only Eli Roth flicks that has a well-known cast, The House with a Clock in its Walls features both Jack Black and Cate Blanchett as leading characters, also supporting the film is new actor Owen Vaccaro and actor Kyle MacLachlan. As I said first we had famous comedic actor Jack Black known for School of Rock, the Kung-Fu Panda trilogy, King Kong, Nacho Libre etc. as uncle Jonathan. Fresh after his wonderfully written role in 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, actor Jack Black is never better, shining in his first creepy film of all time while injecting solid laughs for the audiences and while maybe there is better roles for the actor, Black has really proved that no genre will slaughter his immense talent which clearly helps the film go along well enough to save the creaky storytelling. Secondly we saw actress Cate Blanchett known for Cinderella, Thor: Ragnarok, Ocean’s 8, Robin Hood, The Jungle Book etc. as Mrs. Zimmerman. Although the narrative looks to drown Blanchett almost the whole way, her pure talent from previous films and easy charisma on-screen is more than enough to please the audiences, and while we have seen way better outings from the actress, she is a very nice addition to the already pleasurable cast. Thirdly, supporting the cast, we have actor Owen Vaccaro known for the Daddy’s Home couplet, Mother’s Day etc. as Luis. Wasted so prominently in his previous films, this is Vaccaro’s best outing of his career and while not as great as Daniel Radcliffe when we started his own Fantasy franchise, he proves to be a suitable main character and while a little over-the-top, he succeeds on bringing children in the picture with solid results and truly I would mostly look forward in seeing Vaccaro in potential further installments and sequels to the film, even though overall there are better child actors more fit in these kinds of roles than him. Lastly we have actor Kyle MacLachlan known for Inside Out, Hamlet, Touch of Pink etc. as Isaac Izard. Playing the Voldemort-type character of the story, MacLachlan succeeds in his own ways, although never reaching the potential of Ralph Fiennes truly amazing performance in the Harry Potter series which may-or-may-not divert the audiences enough to make it entertaining, perhaps you could argue his performance was scary and creepy, but his character was a little silly, going into the zombie-type genre for a little really does not help the film out, although it will please fans of the director, Eli Roth with some gory-nostalgia.

Is It Worth Your While?

Eli Roth known for The Green Inferno, Hostel, Clown, The Last Exorcism, Knock Knock etc. is usually making the goriest films to be directed, delivers his first PG-rated flick with solid success, helped by a decent cast, visual splendour and a new creative look at a Fantasy movie. While injecting some effective jump-scares and suitably creepy visuals, Eli Roth also produces an infectious sense of fun throughout the movie which pleases all ages and while Roth is truly an R-rated director, surprisingly his first children-centered movie really works even though it is only an alternative to Harry Potter for the younger kids. Special effects wise, only working on a 42M production budget, The House with a Clock in its Walls succeeds on giving enough visual pleasure as well as some creative ideas, compared to other films it is pale to the Harry Potter series on production budgets with The Sorcerer’s Stone (130M), Chamber of Secrets (100M), The Prisoner of Azkaban (130M), The Goblet of Fire (150M), Order of the Phoenix (150M), The Half-Blood Prince (250M), The Deathly Hallows P1 (250M) and The Deathly Hallows P2 (250M). Seeing that this film has proved me wrong that impressive visuals do not always come from expensive films. Storyline wise, the movie does have some creative ideas which may-or-may-not be able to start a franchise, however it stands alone just as well as it would be if director Eli Roth makes more. The story and plot make enough sense to tick right in most people’s brains, but for those who check their expectations at the theater door, this may not be the film for you as this was meant for pure entertainment, and it succeeded at giving fun for all ages, even though its ideas sometimes exceed its grasp.

Aging ‘The Clock’

Although suitably PG-rated, director Eli Roth does pump in some scares that might not be great for the younger ones, with violence that includes scary dolls, clowns and devil robot-type things come to life, jack-o-lanterns around the house attack Luis, an evil Warlock returns and retells his horrors that he withstood in World War II which at the end includes the summoning of a scary demon, the evil couple of Selena and Isaac have murdered people before and have come to erase the world, a bully punches Luis who falls to his knees on the floor and there are also frightening pictures of necromancy and blood. Language wise, Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman call eachother names such as hag, old yeti, coward, deranged, Q-tip etc. otherwise there are words such as hell, damn and oh my god. Sexuality wise, Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman do flirt often, a girl likes Luis at school and a reuniting couple kiss passionately.

Magical Showdown

The House with a Clock in its Walls 73% sweet/sour

Violence: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Sex: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Age Rating: 10+

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 80% sweet

Violence: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Age Rating: 11+



The House with a Clock in its Walls 73% sweet/sour

Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 80% sweet

Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

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