The House with a Clock in Its Walls

When Lewis Barnavelt's (Owen Vaccaro) mother passes away, he is sent to live with his Uncle Jonathan (Jack Black). He has never met his uncle or heard much about him, but he soon learns that this mansion he now lives in is full of magic, and his uncle is a warlock in the midst of a magical dilemma. Lewis finds himself in the middle of it all, and could be the only one to stop it.

The previews for this movie really got me interested. I had never heard of the book by John Bellairs, but I normally enjoy Jack Black's characters. He did not let me down here. This is a more serious role, although there is some joking around, for Jack Black, but I liked it. I think he did a really good job with it. I actually think he made this movie what it is. 

This movie is targeted for a younger audience, so I wasn't surprised that I wasn't satisfied with Vaccaro's character. He's young and lonely, and that always calls for stupidity. They try to impress people to make friends. Always do, in every movie involving lonely kids. You can predict what's going to happen from pretty early on. There's quite a bit of foreshadowing. This doesn't mean I hated the movie though. I actually enjoyed it. Just because I know where it's going to end, doesn't mean I don't enjoy the ride.

There were some creepier moments in the movie as well. I actually jumped once, which my friends thought was funny. What can I say, I'm a jumpy person, but I do think this movie would scare some younger kids a little. The young boy sitting near us was definitely cuddled into his mom for awhile. I think that the level of horror/suspense is what really brought me in. Even though this was one for kids, I liked that scarier aspect. The suspense along with Jack Black made for an enjoyable time.

Rotten Tomatoes ratings are pretty low so far. The audience score is at a 50%. IMDb is a bit higher at a 6.3/10. I'd probably listen more to IMDb this time than Rotten Tomatoes. It really wasn't that bad. It wasn't the best movie ever, and it's definitely more for kids even with the suspense, but I liked it. It's not going to be a big seller in the future, and will probably spend some time on Netflix, but that's OK. Not every movie will be a hit, and I'm guessing the novel wasn't either. I mean it did come out in 1973, and just now was made into a movie...I guess there are other books in the series as well. John Bellairs wrote twelve novels about Lewis Barnavelt, but I'm not sure we will ever see a sequel. This movie did not end with a cliffhanger. Maybe they are waiting to see how it does in the box office first? Who knows? Only time will tell...😏