Can the horror genre really work if it’s for children? Horror, by its very nature should be un-aplogetically terrifying, something of which is difficult to accomplish with a PG rating. Not to discredit the intelligence of young audiences, but you really do have to hold back on writing horror for them or else it basically just turns into something for adults. Of course, this has been attempted for decades now with the Goosebump book (and now film) series, the Nickelodeon show Are You Afraid of the Dark?, or even the whimsical Disney film, Hocus Pocus. To a certain degree, all of the above examples work well in both spooking and entertaining their intended audiences by finding a balance between scary and appropriate. Given this, I find it ironic that director Eli Roth, pretty much the king of gore-porn, decided to take on the challenge of directing the film adaptation of The House With a Clock in Its Walls.

Set in the year 1955, Lewis Barnevelt (Owen Vaccaro), being recently orphaned when his parents died in an automobile accident,  is invited to live with his uncle Jonathan (Jack Black), whom he’s never met in his mansion. At first, things seem not so bad as Jonathan proves to be a fun guardian with no bedtime, few house rules, and an appreciation for chocolate chip cookies. Always visiting is the equally eccentric Mrs. Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), Jonathan’s long time friend who show’s her closeness to him by mostly exchanging hilarious insults. Lewis eventually suspects he is in danger however, as his uncle and the house itself start behaving unusually. It turns out that Jonathan is hiding quite a bit from his nephew, including the fact he is an actual warlock and that the house is holding some dark, potentially dangerous secrets.

There was so much I enjoyed about this film. One thing especially loved the surprising dynamic between Jack Black and Cate Blanchett’s characters. You could definitely feel the deep (strictly platonic) love their characters had for each other as they constantly bickered. Overall, I am pleased with the amount of character depth shown for a film aimed at younger audiences. Visually, the film was really fun to look at, with sentient furniture, moving stain glass windows, and magic spells everywhere. While there was a definite amount of CGI used to bring the magical mansion to life, it seems they used a bit of restraint and didn’t rely overly much on it.

I will admit, this is one the films I have reviewed that I haven’t previously read the book first, even though I remember a lot of my friends reading it in elementary school. Based off the cover, it certainly looks like it was meant to draw in the youth horror audience. But I can honestly say, if this film was anything like the book, its barely a horror at all. This story is literally Harry Potter before Harry Potter became a thing. Written nearly two decades before the Sorcerer’s Stone, I am astounded by the parallels between the wizarding world of these two series. Unfortunately for this film, people who don’t know any better will say The House With a Clock in Its Walls is a Harry Potter rip-off. The main character, Lewis is pretty much if you took Harry, Hermione, an Nelville Longbottom and combined them into one likable and brainy, yet sadly wimpy young warlock in-training. The big bad of the film Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan) is practically Voldemort, but with a much more devious goal.

I hate to say it, but this film really doesn’t succeed as a family horror film. Even trying to see it from a child’s perspective, it just doesn’t bring the suspenseful “scary” feel that a true horror should have. I can say, though,  it  marvelously succeeds as a retro fantasy with horror elements. I’m actually impressed that Eli Roth was able to show full restraint in his gory nature, yet added as much whimsy as he could. Yes, there are some mildly scary things, including creepy wind up dolls, murderous Jack-O’Lanterns, and some good old fashioned necromancy. I really thoroughly enjoyed it, but I want to warn everyone to know what to expect before they watch it. If you want a true horror for kids, I recommend you wait for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark to come out in 2019. But if you want to see a different take on a magical world that pre-dates Harry Potter, definitely check this one out in theaters.