You don’t often see children’s movies that are OK with scaring kids. It’s this unashamed approach to horror that gives the film the rest of its charm, too. It might, in fact, be a perfect testing ground to see if your child is ready to watch some scarier films. Nothing ever goes too far for kids, but younger ones might get a little more than they were asking for.
When the movie wants to be tense and horrific it goes for it. Roth doesn’t shy away from using standard horror movie techniques to pull scares either.
There’s a room full of creepy robotic dolls, scary living pumpkins, a zombie, and a host of other disturbing things. This might be the scariest kids movie in a long while. He’s able to balance humor, horror, and story with a bit of awe and turn out something fun. By constraining himself to a kid’s movie the stuff he actually does well is able to come through without the blood, gore, and sex obscuring it. Ever since Hostel he’s been in a game of one-upmanship with himself, trying to get more and more disturbing or weird or… whatever. Not-so-surprisingly, restraint actually helps Roth be a better director.
That’s not to say that the movie doesn’t have its own strengths outside of the actors in it. If two lesser actors who were less interested had taken these parts a large chunk of the charm of the film would be gone. It’s one of those cases where a movie could only work thanks to its cast. Vaccaro keeps pace with them, even if he’s not quite up to landing his lines as pitch-perfect as the experienced pair is. The two bounce from comedic to dramatic in wonderful fashion and both seem to be having fun with the parts, especially Blanchett, who doesn’t get to flex her comedic muscles as often as Black. Blanchett and Black are a fantastic duo who spar off each other wonderfully and lift dialog above its station. Honestly, a large chunk of the charm comes from the casting in this film. Lewis is, of course, intrigued by magic and events unfold from there. It turns out the two of them are witches and there is an evil and mysterious clock in the walls of Jonathan’s house left there by an evil and mysterious wizard. Jonathan lives in a creepy old house next door to Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett). It’s straight out of every ghost story cliche you’ve ever read. Based on the book of the same name the film finds Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) sent off to live with his eccentric uncle, Jonathan Barnavelt (Jack Black), after his parents die. The House with a Clock in Its Walls isn’t charming in a cute and cuddly traditional sense like the wonderful Paddington movies are, but in a quirky, funny, and sometimes legit scary sense that stands out. One part horror movie, one part coming of age, and one part Harry Potter, the film may not break any boundaries, but it is uniquely charming. Yet, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is charming in its own wonderful way. If charm and one of his films touched it would destroy the universe. The man is better known for the exact opposite of charm. I did not expect to find that charm from Eli Roth. Maybe it’s because children’s films are all chasing after Pixar’s perfect blend of adult nostalgia and childhood wonder, but charm is often missing. There’s some amazing stuff going on for sure, but that certain “charming” characteristic is often missing. You know what a lot of kids movies lack these days (I ask while waving my cane in the air at a cloud)? Charm. The man who directed Hostel does a kids movie