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In 2018, Black teamed up with famed horror filmmaker Eli Roth for a tampered-down take on the genre with The House with a Clock in Its Walls. The movie started streaming on Netflix on March 3rd, giving subscribers an opportunity to rediscover the movie. The film is based on John Bellairs’s 1973 book of the same name and stars Black opposite Cate Blanchett in a story about an orphaned boy named Lewis who moves in with his uncle. After learning that his uncle is a warlock and accidentally awakening an evil sorcerer, Lewis, his uncle, and their neighbor must find a magical, world-ending clock hidden within the house’s walls to prevent a doomsday scenario.
Jack Black’s The House With a Clock in Its Walls Is Quintessential Gateway Horror
Nailing horror for younger audiences is no easy feat, but The House With a Clock in Its Walls does it right. With horror veteran Roth at the helm, the film is designed to thrill, not terrify, and it doesn’t disappoint. The movie’s horror thrives on a kid-friendly gothic atmosphere achieved through the darkly magical and creepy mansion, where jack-o’-lanterns flicker year-round and furniture comes to life, and it isn’t afraid to deliver PG-rated jump scares with haunted dolls and sentient, menacing griffin-shaped hedges. The movie’s spooky elements absolutely hit the horror factor but never feel overdone or too intense, and the horror perfectly delivers a genuinely thrilling experience for younger viewers.
