THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS

PG, 104 minutes. Through today only at Westbrook. Witches are so 2017. Make way for warlocks, aka “boy witches,” as defined by the intrepid young Lewis (Owen Vaccaro), the boy hero of “The House with a Clock in Its Walls.” The adaptation of John Bellairs’ 1973 young adult fantasy novel, directed by Eli Roth and written by Eric Kripke, makes a play to move in on the young warlock turf vacated by Harry Potter, but the film just can’t quite keep time as a proper young adult fantasy adventure. The story, set in 1955, follows Lewis as he travels to live with his uncle, Jonathan Barnavelt (Jack Black), after the tragic death of his parents. He fits right in to his uncle’s creaking, groaning, ticking house of wonders, where there are no rules, plentiful chocolate chip cookies and lots of mysterious goings-on, courtesy of Jonathan and his neighbor, Mrs. Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett). — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service