The House With a Clock in Its Walls

Eli Roth’s adaptation of John Bellairs’s 1973 young adult novel begins in 1955, as shyly precocious 10-year-old Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) arrives in New Zebedee, MI, to live in a Victorian haunted house with his estranged, eccentric Uncle Jonathan (Jack Black), who assumed custody after Lewis’s parents died in a car crash. Jonathan’s regal BFF/neighbor, widowed Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), soon joins them, gracefully stepping out of the grandfather clock that connects their two homes. Mystic, mechanized figures and macabre symbols abound, including a whimsical chair that acts like a dog, and Lewis quickly realizes that Florence is a witch—the good kind—and his uncle is a warlock. “The house likes you,” Jonathan assures his nerdy nephew. Clinging to his Magic 8-Ball and determined to wear tanker goggles (in tribute to TV’s Captain Midnight), Lewis is predictably bullied at school, treated as an outcast, and the last kid chosen for any sports team. So he is flattered when a patronizing, popular kid seeks his approval. Propelling the plot is a destructive doomsday clock tied to Jonathan’s former partner in stage magic, the dark wizard Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan). Horror-meister Roth meshes suspenseful scares with offbeat humor (including projectile-vomiting pumpkins) in this entertaining family film. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Eli Roth and star Jack Black, a deleted scene with optional commentary (10 min.), the production featurettes “Warlocks and Witches” (10 min.), “Movie Magic” (10 min.), “Director’s Journals” (8 min.), “Owen Goes Behind the Scenes” (4 min.), “Tick Tock: Bringing the Book to Life” (4 min.), “Do You Know Jack Black?” (4 min.), and “The Mighty Wurlitzer” (3 min.), as well as an alternate opening (4 min.) and alternate ending (2 min.), a gag reel (4 min.), a “Theme Song Challenge” (3 min.), and the brief “Jack Black’s Greatest Fear” and “Abracadabra!” segments. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a fun film.] (S. Granger)