It was 1955. Ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt went to live with his eccentric Uncle Jonathan in New Zebedee, Michigan after both his parents passed away suddenly. His uncle's house was a creepy old mansion which had unusual furniture and macabre decorations. It had countless clocks hanging all over its walls to mask the unbearable ticking of a clock hidden within one of its walls. As Lewis tried to fit into his new home and school, Lewis learned about the magical nature of his uncle, their neighbor Florence Zimmerman, and the late Isaac Izard, the former owner of the house who now wanted to come back from the dead.
At first, I thought this would be a fantasy film, like "A Wrinkle in Time" earlier this year (which almost caused me to give this one a miss). I was surprised that it turned out to be a HORROR film -- for kids! When the closing credits started to roll and I saw the name of Eli Roth as director, I was taken aback. Roth was notorious for his graphic horror films like "Hostel" (2005) and "The Green Inferno" (2013). But of course, Roth gave this one a kid-friendly thrills and gore, slimy and disgusting as kids love it. Even I enjoyed that scene with the attack of the evil Jack O'Lanterns with their bright orange goo they barfed out.
The most Rated SPG (Strict Parental Guidance) horror scene was the cemetery scene where Lewis performed a necromantic occult blood ritual to impress a popular kid at school. That scary scene was executed to give young kids nightmares. Like the Harry Potter films, there were some fantastic beasts here too, such as the topiary lion who had poor toilet training. The rest of horror techniques Roth employed ranged from sudden little jump scares to very creepy life size doll scenes.
With his perpetual naughty little boy personality, Jack Black is really a natural for these darker kiddy films, although his casting was not really too imaginative because of he already starred in a similar-veined "Goosebumps" just three years ago. With Jack Black in the cast, this might as well have been the sequel of that kiddie horror film, only that the real sequel "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween" will still come out later on this year (without Black). Since "School of Rock" (2003), we know Black worked well with kids, and same here.
Owen Vaccaro played Lewis, a likeable little misfit with his Captain Midnight goggles and bow tie. He had to deal with the death of his parents and getting along with his wacky uncle, at the same time trying to make friends in a new school, and learning to unleash the magic within him. Vaccaro tends to overact in some scenes though, especially the crying scenes.
Cate Blanchett I feared might be ill-fit for her role here as a stern but friendly witch, but of course the talented actress proved me wrong. She matched Black joke for joke in the comedy department, of course, with her trademark classy finesse. It was good to see Kyle MacLachlan again playing the sinister Isaac Izard, obsessed with world destruction. Renée Elise Goldsberry, Angelica Schuyler in "Hamilton" on Broadway, played Isaac's sneaky wife Selena, who had her own special witchy abilities.
Overall, this was old-fashioned family-friendly horror fare (based on a 1973 children's book by John Bellairs) with modern CGI flourish (some effects were very good, some not as good). More jaded adults may find the proceedings on the corny side, but hey, the target audience are younger kids who will get a kick out of the (mostly) nifty magic, (generally) tame scares, and (silly) slapstick comedy. 7/10.
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