The House with a Clock in Its Walls Christian Movie Review (2018)

Guidance: Talk Together

This spooky fantasy blends child-centered adventure with frequent occult imagery, magic, and creepy peril. For many Christian families, the main concern is not sexual content or harsh language, but the film’s heavy use of witchcraft, necromancy, and supernatural power outside any Christian framework.

Why This Guidance Level

This film lands in a middle range of concern because its strongest issues are supernatural rather than graphic. The scares and peril are meaningful for younger viewers, but the bigger discernment question for Christian families is the story’s repeated use of witches, warlocks, necromancy, and magical power as the engine of the adventure. That makes it a film many parents would want to discuss rather than treat as simple light fantasy.

Faith & Worldview Perspective

The story reflects real longings for courage, friendship, trust, and perseverance in the face of fear. At the same time, it places supernatural power, spellwork, and occult imagery at the center of its world, presenting magic as a normal tool for both protection and conflict. That may blur important lines for children who need help distinguishing imaginative fantasy from spiritual ideas Scripture warns against. Parents may want to discuss how Christian hope is not found in secret power or rituals, but in Jesus Christ.

Truths Reflected

• Fear can be faced with courage, help, and perseverance.
• Grief and loneliness are eased through loving community and found-family care.

Tensions to Discuss

• The film treats witchcraft, warlocks, and necromancy as central story elements, which may conflict with a biblical view because Scripture warns against seeking spiritual power through occult means.
• Supernatural rescue and identity are tied to magical ability rather than dependence on God, which a Christian parent may want to discuss.

Content & Discernment Markers

Occult & Spiritual Content

• Occult material is a major part of the story world. The film centers on witches, warlocks, spells, magical houses and objects, and a resurrected evil figure connected to necromancy and dark supernatural power. For Christian families, this is the clearest area to talk through carefully.
• A dark backstory involves an evil warlock, death-related imagery, and supernatural attempts tied to world-threatening evil. The contrast between good and evil is present, but both sides still operate through magic outside a Christian framework. Parents may want to discuss why Jesus Christ calls His people away from occult power, even when it is presented as useful or exciting.

Sexuality & Relationships

• Sexual content is very light. A married couple shares a reunion kiss, with no broader sexual material standing out.

Identity Themes

• The story includes a found-family dynamic around an orphaned boy being cared for by unusual but loving adults. That can open a healthy conversation about how family care can take different forms without making identity themes a major concern here.

Violence & Intensity

• The film leans into spooky peril more than graphic violence. Younger viewers may be unsettled by a haunted house atmosphere, living objects, threatening creatures, ominous ticking, and repeated jump-scare style moments.
• There are references to people being killed and to a plan that threatens widespread destruction. The danger is serious, though presented in a fantasy-adventure style rather than with sustained graphic detail. Parents may want to discuss the difference between brave action and reckless curiosity.

Language & Humour

• Language is mostly mild and often played for comic bickering. Characters trade insults such as “old hag,” “old yeti,” “hag face,” “withered purple skeleton,” “coward,” and “Q-tip,” and there are a few uses of “hell,” “damn,” and “oh my God.”

Other Content Notes

• The story carries grief and loneliness underneath the fantasy, since the child at the center is an orphan and several characters are dealing with loss. Those themes are not overwhelming, but they do give the film a heavier emotional tone than a simple comedy.

Notable Moments

• Haunted house atmosphere: The house itself is presented as eerie and threatening, with unsettling objects and a constant sense that something dark is hidden within the walls.
• Necromancy and dark magic: A major thread involves an evil warlock, death-related imagery, and supernatural power tied to destructive purposes.
• Comic insults: Adult characters trade colorful insults for humor, softening the tone at times but still modeling sarcastic speech children may repeat.

  ""old hag""

Discussion Prompts

• Where should we look for power and help?: What does this story make magic feel like: exciting, harmless, dangerous, or all three? How is that different from where Christians are taught to seek help?
  • Biblical guidance: Scripture warns against occult practices and points us to trust God rather than secret spiritual power. Christian hope and protection are found in the Lord, not in spells or rituals.
  • Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:10-12, Isaiah 8:19, John 14:6
• Facing fear with courage: When the characters are afraid, what helps them keep going? How can courage look different when our confidence is rooted in God?
  • Biblical guidance: The film values bravery and perseverance, which can lead to a good conversation about courage that comes from God’s presence rather than from personal power alone.
  • Scripture: Joshua 1:9, Psalm 56:3-4, 2 Timothy 1:7
• Grief, loneliness, and belonging: How do the lonely or grieving characters change when they are cared for by others? What does God say about caring for the vulnerable?
  • Biblical guidance: The story’s found-family thread can point toward God’s compassion for the orphaned, grieving, and isolated, and toward the church as a place of loving care.
  • Scripture: Psalm 68:5-6, James 1:27, Romans 12:15
• Words used for humor: Were the insults funny, hurtful, or both? How should Christians think about joking that tears others down?
  • Biblical guidance: Even playful speech shapes the heart. Families may want to talk about humor that stays kind and honoring.
  • Scripture: Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 15:1, Colossians 4:6