{"id":13696,"date":"2018-09-21T13:52:09","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T13:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shows4.com\/mobile\/?p=13696"},"modified":"2018-09-21T13:52:09","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T13:52:09","slug":"the-house-with-a-clock-in-its-walls-review-thrills-chills-and-jack-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shows4.com\/?p=13696","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The House With a Clock in Its Walls\u2019 Review: Thrills, Chills and Jack Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nIf you want to scare the kiddies but still keep them giggling, Jack Black is your man. This peerless comic actor can do more with an arched eyebrow than a crazy-car stuffed with clowns, and it\u2019s that old Black magic that ignites The House With a Clock in Its Walls, a supernatural tale set in 1955 in New Zebedee, Michigan (a town with its very own haunted mansion). The School of Rock star plays Jonathan, the warlock who occupies the premises; when he isn\u2019t trying to find the source of the menacing tick-tock emanating from the walls, he\u2019s trading congenial insults with the witch next door, Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett, all dry wit and good-sport gusto). Classy company. Then a young stranger moves in. He\u2019s Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro), a 10-year-old whose parents have both died in a car crash. Uncle Jonathan is all this misfit kid has. So what if it\u2019s weird to live in a place where furniture comes to life, and the house pet is a living shrubbery that farts?<\/p>\n

Based on the acclaimed 1973 children\u2019s novel by John Bellairs, The House With a Clock in Its Walls \u2014 with a busy script by Eric Kripke \u2014 lacks the book\u2019s artfully unnerving Edward Gorey illustrations. What it does have, besides Jon Hutman\u2019s dazzling production design, is Eli Roth in the director\u2019s chair. Don\u2019t lock up the kids. Freaky-deaky Roth is not indulging in the torture porn that made his name in a series of Hostel horrorshows. The filmmaker treads gently this time, though fans should know that the PG rating hasn\u2019t neutered him. When Owen accidentally brings evil warlock Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan) back from the dead, the film raises the spectre of Nazi terror with the bad guy\u2019s plan to eliminate the human race. Tough topic for kids to digest with cookies and milk. Luckily, Roth keeps the plot on the run and the visuals eye popping. When Owen brings up the possibility of romance between Florence and his uncle, she quickly points out there\u2019s \u201cnothing kissyface going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a relief \u2014 funny how global annihilation is always preferable to personal intimacy in family entertainment. Recalling Gremlins, The Goonies and every other fantasy that Steven Spielberg dreamed up in the 1980s, this bustling magic show promises a thrill ride of scares and giggles. The something extra comes with watching Black and Blanchett match wits, especially the former; he radiates his signature comic moxie with glimmers of the dramatic chops he demonstrated in movies like Bernie (2011) and this year\u2019s Don\u2019t Worry, He Won\u2019t Get Far on Foot. There are shadows even in a funhouse mirror, and The House with a Clock in Its Walls works best when it lets us see there are real feelings at stake.<\/p>\n