The House With a Clock in Its Walls – The Movie

The child actor was disappointing, not only for his lack of emotive skill, but his lack of resemblance of the round-faced, pudgy Lewis described in the book. In order to prove this character’s nerdiness, he is shown to wear Captain Midnight steampunk goggles all the time, this one quirk overshadowing the part. It was apparently intended to remedy a lack of character personality given the actor could not carry off the part. Tarby was believable, but the pretense of a class election as the only reason Tarby befriended Lewis was unnecessary, and his crisp jeans rolled up like mom’s help on the first day of school seemed like costuming was reaching too hard for the 1950s wanna-be greaser look.

Of course the story was changed greatly. But I can see why the insinuation of a man’s slaughter, a bottle of blood in the ice box, and a hand of glory were removed, not to mention a visually boring car chase sequence, and even the obscure naval battles, to be replaced (effectively, according to my 10-year-old daughter,) with the action and humor kids of this generation expect: a living, pet dog-like recliner, pumpkins puking their guts out, and a farting lion topiary. The scariness quotient was in turn aptly amped up with an army of automatons as if a thing raised from the dead wasn’t enough to meet that requirement.

The trade-in was the loss of the original novel’s pervasive element of impending gothic doom that permeated every page. The effects were great, the mansion worthy of Agatha Christie, but even Jack Black’s over-the-top showmanship cannot not compete with the chill of a hateful, undead force of evil creeping slowly closer to your home. Here the weight of Lewis’ guilt for raising Selena from the dead is replaced with the theme of loss and mourning that was absent from the book, but I think it’s a welcome and meaningful addition.

In fact, I am glad they changed the ending from Lewis simply smashing the small doomsday clock to prevent the return of Izard’s ghost, bringing about the end of days into a giant clockwork mechanism constructed below the house. The magic 8-ball’s “Coal Bin” swapped out for “Under the Boiler”.

What I did not like was that instead of a showdown between two powerful female witches with differing ethical agendas, they brought back the old sky wizard Izaac Izard himself. This allowed for some added twists at the end, secret identities revealed, and a satisfying fight amid the awesome gears (reminiscent of Hellboy II’s climax).

The diversity of the cast makes itself evident, if strained, and I give the movie makers credit for that, as the original story was written in 1973, a time when most children’s books were anything but diverse.

Another interesting, and I think successful, change to the story is the history between Uncle Jonathan and Isaac Izard. Throughout the house we see those colorful, antique, victorian-style posters of stage magicians boasting the prestidigitational prowess of Izard and Barnavelt, (and their lovely assistant, Selena!) It even delves deeper into what made Izard turn to dark necromancy, lost in the Black Forest after facing the atrocities of The War.

It seems like Hollywood now buys the rights to a great novel, puts its list of characters and plot points into “the formula” and churns out identical movies cut from the same mold, over and over. Take Seventh Son (a -title- taken from The Last Apprentice Series by Joseph Delaney,) that seemed to be more of a remake of Dragonslayer than even remotely resembling the storyline of the books. The same can be said for a plethora of recent films like Solomon Kane, Jonah Hex, Blade, Dark Shadows, Zorro, Goosebumps, …and the machine keeps stamping them out… and this ultimately has the feel of a modern cookie-cutter film.

Despite its lack of gloomy atmosphere, this tribute to Bellairs’ masterpiece is a spooky romp of a good time, especially for younger viewers. What I really loved about the movie was that it recognized what was essential to convey from the original storyline. It offered the air of safety in Lewis’ new family, punctuated by cookies and poker night, and kept the focus on Lewis’ own unique, weird, magic as the key to locating the hidden, yet omnipresent Doomsday Clock. This, despite the changes, makes it a mild success in bringing one of the greatest children’s books of all time to the screen. If you have a nine or ten year old, this is just the movie to get into the Halloween spirit. It may just open the door for reading the source material!