The House With A Clock In Its Walls

Everybody likes a good scare, even kids which is exactly what you will get with The House With A Clock In Its Walls. Despite its long-winded title, the film is actually a pretty decent family watch. Starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett in the lead adult roles, the film is based on the book of the same name.

Set in 1955, 10-year-old Lewis Barnavelt's parents are killed in a car crash. With nowhere else to go, he must move and live with his eccentric Uncle Jonathan. He lives in a creaky old mansion, full to the brim with all sorts of wonderous, and sometimes creepy things.

Things start to go wrong from the first night when Lewis starts to hear a clock ticking in the walls. Attempting to find its source, he instead stumbles across his Uncle taking a sledgehammer to the walls.

After much debate with his best friend, and next door neighbour, Florence, Uncle Jonathan decides to tell Lewis that he is a warlock. And Florence is a witch. It transpires that the previous owners of the house were even more powerful. And they laid a trap in the house in the form of a hidden clock that controls time on earth. If the trio cannot find the source of the clock, time will turn back and humanity will stop existing.

Despite all of their efforts, including Lewis coming into his own powers, they are stopped at every turn by the evil Isaac Izard, and his wife Selena. It's at moments like these that the movie becomes a little on the scary side. However, older children may appreciate the jumps as there are so few thrillers for kids. So it's quite edgy given the audience demographic.

The House With A Clock In Its Walls is very engaging, even for adults. There is a really good plot which is never dumbed down. Jack Black and Cate Blanchett are, as usual, excellent and overall it's a really entertaining movie. With magic in abundance, witches and warlocks plus plenty of twists and turns, what's not to love?