The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)
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A young boy discovers his new home is inhabited by a warlock and a witch who are trying to find a hidden clock.
The story
In 1955, after his parents are killed in a car crash, ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt moves to live with his uncle Jonathan in New Zebedee, Michigan. All he has left of his parents is a Magic 8 Ball they had given him, and a family photograph. Upon entering his new home, he meets Jonathan's neighbour and best friend, Florence Zimmerman. During the night, Lewis is puzzled when he hears a ticking sound in the walls. He begins exploring the house and stumbles upon Jonathan smashing a wall with an ax. Frightened, Lewis runs away and encounters multiple household objects coming to life.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1955, after his parents are killed in a car crash, ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt moves to live with his uncle Jonathan in New Zebedee, Michigan. He discovers that Jonathan is a warlock and his neighbor Florence is a witch. The house was previously owned by the sinister warlock Isaac Izard and his wife Selena, who hid a clock in the walls. Jonathan seeks the clock to discover its purpose. Lewis begins teaching himself magic and, after being exploited by a classmate named Tarby, performs a necromancy spell on Halloween night that accidentally summons Isaac from his grave. Isaac reveals that Selena is actually the neighbor Mrs. Hanchett and that she used her bones to make the clock's key. The clock's purpose is to reverse all of human history, rendering humanity extinct. Jonathan, Florence, and Lewis are magically expelled as the couple initiates the ritual. Using a Magic 8 Ball, the trio returns to the boiler room. Florence stays to fight a snake while Lewis and Jonathan pursue Isaac. The clock transforms Jonathan into a baby. Lewis realizes he must let go of the pain of losing his parents to harness his true power. He breaks the clock by dropping the Magic 8 Ball into the gears. Lewis unleashes the magic on Isaac and Selena, disintegrating them. Lewis returns to school with confidence, befriends a classmate named Rose Rita, and the three of them begin living as a regular family.
- First release year
- 2018
- Runtime (minutes)
- 105
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Eli Roth
- Writers
- Eric Kripke · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Jack Black · Jonathan Barnavelt; Cate Blanchett · Florence Zimmerman; Owen Vaccaro · Lewis Barnavelt; Renée Elise Goldsberry · Selena Izard; Sunny Suljic · Tarby Corrigan; Colleen Camp · Mrs. Hanchett; Lorenza Izzo · Mrs. Barnavelt; Kyle MacLachlan · Isaac Izard
- Genres
- dark fantasy; comedy; children's fantasy; demon; ghost; supernatural
- Themes
- grief; family; magic; friendship
- Tone and mood
- dark fantasy; humor; horror; fun
- Premise and plot tags
- orphan; witchcraft; supernatural; halloween
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1973 book by John Bellairs
- Content notes
- magic; necromancy
- Reception
- The film was a box office success, grossing over $131 million worldwide and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics who largely praised the cast, but said the film did not fully live up to its potential.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 57 · scale: 100 · review count: 38; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 3.5 · scale: 5
- Production trivia
- The film's visual effects team built massive 10-foot and 14½-foot gears for the Clock Room sequence.; Steven Spielberg provided input on the final designs of the Jack-o'-lantern characters.; Director Eli Roth makes a cameo as Comrade Ivan.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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