Directed by Eli Roth, this fantasy film is based on a classical 1973 children’s book by John Bellairs by the same name.

Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) is a 10-year-old boy with a love for dictionaries which makes him a little strange and alone. His parents have died so he moves to Michigan under the care of eccentric* uncle Jonathan (Jack Black) who lives in a supposedly haunted* house, where the walls tick and nothing is what it seems.

Recently orphaned, Lewis only wants to have a normal childhood but soon discovers he’s in line for anything but that. Uncle Jonathan is in fact a mediocre* but well-intentioned warlock*, while his next-door neighbor and good friend Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett) is a far more powerful good witch. The house that Lewis has just moved into was previously* owned by Isaac and Selena Izard. Before dying, this evil couple had constructed a powerful clock that is hidden somewhere within the walls of the house where it ticks forever, trying to pull the world into a magical alignment* that would have permitted Isaac to bring about the end of the world.

The sleepy facade of Lewis’ new town jumps to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis, wanting only to make a new friend and impress the popular Tarby Corrigan, tries to raise the dead in the local cemetery* on Halloween and succeeds in accidentally releasing Isaac Izard from his tomb. Things quickly go awry as the warlock’s ghost and a group of fantastical creatures are soon unleashed to wreak destruction on the town. Now, with the help of Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman, Lewis must summon all his courage to prevent the evil warlock Isaac Izard from finishing his work, and try to contain the growing supernatural forces of evil that threaten to bring about doomsday* for the whole world.

On this fantastical trip are signposts of the director’s love for spooking* audiences, only this time the gore is replaced by a child-like glee of showing that it’s fun to be scared.

SD-Agencies