The House with a Clock in Its Walls

Name: The House with a Clock in Its Walls
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror
Released: September 21, 2018
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 57
Cast: Alli Beckman, Braxton Bjerken, Cate Blanchett, Charles Green, Colleen Camp

2018

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 116 Ratings

See All

5.9

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5.9	Your Score
5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 116 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls (Trailer 2)

Now Playing: The House with a Clock in Its Walls (Trailer 2)

Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: September 21, 2018 | PG

Starring: Alli Beckman, Braxton Bjerken, Cate Blanchett, Charles Green, Colleen Camp, Jack Black, Kyle MacLachlan, Lorenza Izzo, Owen Vaccaro, Perla Middleton, Renee Goldsberry, Sandy Givelber, Sunny Suljic, Trinity L Beals, Van Marten, Vanessa Anne Williams

Summary: 10-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town’s sleepy façade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.

Director: Eli Roth

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Comedy, Family

Rating: PG

Runtime: 105 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Matthew Monagle

Sep 19, 2018

So it comes as no small shock that The House With a Clock in Its Walls may very well be one of the best spooky movies to ever operate under a PG rating. The man known for taking things too far also appears to know exactly where to stop. Read full review

William Bibbiani

Sep 18, 2018

The House With a Clock in Its Walls is easily Eli Roth’s best motion picture, and that’s not an attempt to damn the film with faint praise. It’s a spooky and amusing piece of family-friendly Halloween cinema, sharply produced and mostly effective, told with skill and panache. Read full review

Andrew Crump

Sep 26, 2018

As delightful as relentless CGI monster mayhem is—and there’s plenty to go round as The House with a Clock in Its Walls rolls through its final act—it’s the lovely character work that makes the story memorable. Roth and his cast pack a surplus of exuberance into a children’s fantasy mold that’s by now grown musty. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Sep 18, 2018

While not terribly original, it would be fair to call the movie inventive, like one of those eccentrics who’s constantly pestering the patent office with what he thinks are fresh ideas, only to discover that someone else got there first. Read full review

Justin Chang

Sep 19, 2018

At his best, Roth plunders elements from countless other tales of supernatural spookery — ominous spell books, shuddering tombstones, grown men and little kids shooting lightning bolts from their fingertips — and nudges them eerily close to genuine enchantment. Read full review

Katie Walsh

Sep 20, 2018

Despite all the rich elements — the fantastic cast, the wonderfully detailed production and costume design, an oddball family story of black sheep finding each other — there's something missing from The House with a Clock in Its Walls. It's weightless, hop-skipping over necessary story-building, glossing over Lewis' warlock training as well as the personal histories of his guardians. Read full review

Mark Kennedy

Sep 18, 2018

The film somehow manages its own witchcraft in finding the perfect un-sweet spot — it’s too scary for little kids, not scary enough for older ones, not funny or clever enough for their parents, and too redundant for everyone. Poof! Watch the audience disappear. Read full review

SEE ALL 38 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

AlanSwift

Aug 9, 2020

I like this movie so cool, a cute trama and one of the most interesting ones

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

alianoraree

Oct 2, 2018

A marvelous bit of dark fantasy. Please note: in addition to being enchanting, this movie is legitimately spooky and darkly atmospheric, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it for younger children.
Having read the books I was confused when I saw the movie listed as a comedy, but it worked quiteA marvelous bit of dark fantasy. Please note: in addition to being enchanting, this movie is legitimately spooky and darkly atmospheric, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it for younger children.
Having read the books I was confused when I saw the movie listed as a comedy, but it worked quite well overall. During a couple of the comedic moments Black veered a bit too far toward melodrama, but otherwise his Jonathon was delightful. The rest of the cast was also good, but Lorenza Izzo (Lewis' mother) was absolutely perfect. I really hope they make more movies based on books from this series.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

NolanLundgaard

Sep 23, 2018

“House” was a pretty good movie. The beginning and climax of the story were SO good (10/10 worthy), I just wish I could say the same about the ending. This part of the story relied too much on CGI. While I don’t mind a little bit of it used now and then, I felt a little hit over the head“House” was a pretty good movie. The beginning and climax of the story were SO good (10/10 worthy), I just wish I could say the same about the ending. This part of the story relied too much on CGI. While I don’t mind a little bit of it used now and then, I felt a little hit over the head with it. I also would have appreciated less “bush-lion” poop jokes about using the litter box instead of blasting people with leaves (poop?). Besides that, I had a great experience with House, and I would recommend it to people who enjoyed the Harry Potter films, Doctor Strange, and the Goosebumps movie.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Trineo99

Nov 9, 2018

Now the main stand out on the acting department for me was Cate Blanchett. She had the comedic timing down packed and was still able to have some serious scenes. The visual effects in some scenes looked pretty good but others just looked out of place. But for a majority of the film they didNow the main stand out on the acting department for me was Cate Blanchett. She had the comedic timing down packed and was still able to have some serious scenes. The visual effects in some scenes looked pretty good but others just looked out of place. But for a majority of the film they did look very good. This film is classified as a horror film so it's supposed to be scary right? Well, it’s scary if you’re thirteen and below unless you’re scared easily then it might be scary for you as well. Now you don’t get to meet the villain of the film until it’s halfway done and it’s not even that captivating of a villain. In a movie like this, the villain should be somebody that you fear and want to be against, but he was just a laughably bad villain. His plan is generic and not original, and his entire plan revolves around one thing that only happened by accident. Then there’s the pacing in this film. Remember how I said it took it halfway through the film to finally meet the main villain? Yeah, that was all because the pacing in the entire film was off. It seemed to drag out way too much like they thought they had a longer run time. Due to the first half and part of the second half is slow it caused the climax to seem rushed and not flow smoothly. There didn’t seem to be any character growth either, again probably due to the terrible pacing. In the end, “The House With a Clock in its Walls” is a good time for kids who like being scared.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

clarkaddison

Sep 24, 2018

This film had two kids crying in my showing. It has the kid humor with some adult jokes for parents to get but at its core this film is just another kids book adapted into a mold for cinematic goers. Necromancy, demons, and holocaust references are a little too much for kids.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Dragonfly44

Jan 21, 2019

An entertaining albiet familiar story with nice visuals. Unfortunately it’s very forgettable and relies uncomfortably on potty humor.

Rating - 53%

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Ridrime

Sep 25, 2018

Caution to Parents! This movie and rating is a ruse. This should have been PG-13 at best. Not suited for young children,Christians or anybody with any sense. It is all about Witchcraft and satanic rituals. This is where Hollyweird is going and we need to resist it.

2 of 11 users found this helpful29

SEE ALL 35 REVIEWS

More From Metacritic