THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS

Cert

JRunning time

ack Black stars as a warlock full of tricks in this early Halloween treat of frighteningly entertaining family fun.

As kindly Uncle Jonathan to 10-year-old orphan Lewis, Black sees all hell break lose when the boy secretly uses magic in an attempt to gain popularity at school – and inadvertently unleashes a demonic force in the form of Kyle MacLachan’s deceased evil sorcerer.

This sets the clock ticking on the end of the world, and to prevent it Jonathan and Lewis team up with their neighbour.

Suitably dressed in regal purple, the imperiously talented Cate Blanchett resembles Mary Poppins’ stylish older sister and enjoys herself immensely as the brollywielding witch.

Blanchett and Black are an unlikely and seemingly mismatched double act but create a sparky chemistry, while Owen Vaccaro gives a bright and articulate performance as Lewis and is never upstaged by his illustrious co-stars.

After contributing enormously to the huge success of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle early this year, and having unveiled his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this week, Black’s career is recovering its sparkle.

And although director Eli Roth filmed this year’s woeful remake of Death Wish starring Bruce Willis, he’s recovered strongly with this latest effort and is careful to be faithful to the tone and intention of the source material – the popular children’s book by John Bellairs.

His film bursts with warm nostalgia for the 1950s American small-town setting, which is typical enough for a film coproduced by Steven Spielberg’s company Amblin Entertainment.

It’s charming, funny, and conjures up plenty of crowdpleasingly scary magical mayhem.

Populated with pet-like living furniture and self-playing musical instruments, kids will love the handsomely designed house where the action takes place.

And they’ll totally agree with the story’s premise that chocolate chip cookies have the power to soothe any problem.