The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)

A young orphan named Lewis Barnavelt aids his magical uncle in locating a clock with the power to bring about the end of the world.

Director:

Eli Roth

Writers:

Eric Kripke (screenplay by), John Bellairs (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Black	...	Jonathan Barnavelt
Cate Blanchett	...	Florence Zimmerman
Owen Vaccaro	...	Lewis Barnavelt
Kyle MacLachlan	...	Isaac Izard
Renée Elise Goldsberry	...	Selena Izard
Colleen Camp	...	Mrs. Hanchett
Sunny Suljic	...	Tarby Corrigan
Lorenza Izzo	...	Mother
Braxton Bjerken	...	Woody Mingo
Vanessa Anne Williams	...	Rose Rita Pottinger
Ricky Muse	...	Bus Driver (as Ricky Lynn Muse)
Charles Green	...	Soda Jerk
De'Jon Watts	...	Clark (as DJ Watts)
Aaron Beelner	...	Clown Automaton
Joshua Phillips	...	Clown Automaton

Storyline

Lewis Barnavelt, after losing his parents, is sent to Michigan to live with his uncle Jonathan. He discovers his uncle is a warlock, and enters a world of magic and sorcery. But this power is not limited to good people: Lewis learns of Isaac Izard, an evil wizard who constructed a magical clock with black magic, as long as it exists it will keep ticking, counting down to doomsday. He died before he could finish the clock, but he hid the clock in his house, where Uncle Jonathan now lives. Now Lewis and Jonathan must find the clock before it finishes its countdown and ends the world.

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Plot Keywords:

child | hair bun | hair curlers | year 1955 | playing basketball | 

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Taglines:

This house knows what makes you tick.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements including sorcery, some action, scary images, rude humor and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA Canada India

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 September 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The House with a Clock in Its Walls

Filming Locations:

Greenville Street, Newnan, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$42,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$26,608,020, 23 September 2018, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$68,549,695

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$131,457,147

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, Amblin Entertainment, Mythology Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (DTS: X) Auro 11.1 IMAX 6-Track Dolby Atmos (Dolby Atmos+Vision) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cate Blanchett and Kyle MacLachlan, who play rival magicians in this film, have both been in Marvel comic book features as enemies of the protagonist: Blanchett played Hela in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and MacLachlan played Calvin Zabo/Mr Hyde in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013) (although he never encounters Thor).

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Goofs

The Backpack that Lewis is carrying during travel and to/from school is actually a real life Yugoslav People's Army Combat backpack Model 1975 - standard combat backpack from 1975 until 1990s and was also extensively used by every side during the Yugoslavian wars. It was uniquely designed around 1975 and not available in 1955. There are several varieties (black leather straps instead of leather colored and so on) and seems like front shoulder pads are removed, but definitely M75 - combat backpack of YPA.

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Quotes

Jonathan Barnavelt: There's a clock in the walls. We don't know what it does, except... something horrible.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits sequence are filled with with characters and objects from the film, in the artwork of Edward Gorey (a Goth artist who collaborated on John Bellairs novels).

At the end of the closing credits, the film's cast wave goodbye.

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Alternate Versions

Theatrical versions of the movie are longer by 10 seconds, with a bumper for Universal Parks and Resorts placed before the Amblin Partners logo. this is removed from home video releases however, instead cutting directly to the Amblin Partners logo after the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in WatchMojo: Top 10 Anticipated Releases of September 2018 (2018)

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Soundtracks

Doggone That Moon
Written by Rosella Rue
Performed by Johnny Mosby (as Johnny) and Jonie Mosby (as Jonie)
Courtesy of SONY/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Masters International

User Reviews

Tame horror, great pumpkins.

My knowledge of kids' fantasy horror stories ranges from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to Something Wicked This Way Comes to Goosebumps, to Harry Potter, all a bit odd, none too horrible. However, a heavy dose of that eccentric comes with the newest children's fantasy, The House with a Clock in Its Walls. The nerdiest kids should like this film; the normal maybe not so much because it lacks heavy horror!

Young orphan Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) goes to stay with his Uncle, Jonathan (Jack Black) and neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman (Cate Blanchette). So far so good except the adults are witch and warlock and the boy precocious and eccentric. As Jonathan learns the basics of magic (not the benign Harry Potter stuff), he also learns that the dead magician Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan) has tricked out his sumptuous Victorian mansion with a doomsday clock, whose discovery now is essential for mankind's survival and whose location must be found.

It is too convoluted a story to recount except that Lewis learns about necromancy and indomitability along with a bushel of new words fitting an emerging intellectual magician, albeit strange to his classmates. Lamentably, most of the horror tropes are broad and tame. A lion defecating on the nearest boy, however, should please the younger audience.

Youngsters may squirm at raising the dead while teens can easily survive that Halloween staple. Adults will be amused although disappointed at how little the comely Blanchette is used and how little humor the too-often serious Black is in a role made to order for his goofiness. Together, however, they are a comedy team worth noting. Good chemistry.

The magic of Harry Potter is not here while some of its charm resides with Lewis and the gifted witch, Mrs. Zimmerman. Along the way the film makes points about the destructiveness of wars and offers oddly funny set pieces such as when, for example, Blanchette head butts a pumpkin.

Audiences will magically or not flock to this unusually low-key horror treat. Just don't think about that lion.