The Skeleton Key (2005)

The first must-see film of the year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The Skeleton Key (2005) Starring: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, John Hurt, Joy Bryant, Marion Zinser, Maxine Barnett, Fahnlohnee R. Harris, Deneen Tyler, Ann Dalrymple, Trula M. Marcus, Jen Apgar, Thomas Uskali, Jamie Lee Redmon, Forrest Landis, Tonya Staten, Isaach De Bankolé, Christa Thorne, Ronald McCall and Jeryl Prescott Directed By: Iain Softley Review FEARING IS BELIEVING Hello Kiddies your pal The Crypt-Critic, you know what I hate when horror movies don't have a good story. This film is basically what would happen if Chucky killer doll actually won. Kate Hudson plays Caroline and one would think that this movie looks exactly like The Ring from a few years ago because it has a hot blonde in the main lead. But anyway she's nursing a man who had a stoke and is beginning to think there's more then meets the eye with the home as she uncovers it's past. I liked the main leads, most of the cast was pretty good because not much was wrong with there dialogue. Except for maybe in the end when Kate Hudson started talking like a southern woman it just didn't feel right on her. I didn't find the acting to be bad but it wasn't anything noteworthy either. The concept is great I mean come on the twist in the end who we find out the people really where and they have same goal as Chucky as I mentioned earlier but ugh huh well if you know what Chucky's goal is or have seen this film just know I hated the ending. On a technical level the camera shots are nice and the film does have a good atmosphere to it. The Skeleton Key is a nicely made film with some fine acting, good props, but with a concept and story that is just wasted. With an ending that bogs it down it doesn't all come together nicely, its like a good DVD that was scratched, I'm giving it a two out of five.

I watched this one when it first came out and loved it, so I wanted to give it a rewatch to see if I still enjoyed it as much…. And I did! I have a thing for Southern mansions with big porches, and if you mix in some Hoodoo or Voodoo, even better.Don't really want to say too much about the story or the ending, because the ending is what really made this movie stand out to me. During my first watch it wasn't until really close to the end when I finally figured out what was happening, which made it so enjoyable.Some might classify this as more of a thriller, but there are Gothic horror as well as regular horror elements to it. I could see a couple of scenes that would make people jump, and some of the images, like when Caroline's eyes and lips were sewn shut could be seen as horror. As for the Gothic horror, there's the big creepy mansion far away from any neighbors. And a female caregiver who moves in, and has a very small support system, so people won't really wonder/care if anything happens to her. As well as the possibility of ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night. I highly recommend this movie if you've never seen it before. And if you have, and enjoyed it, I would definitely say to give it a rewatch.

It's not just the skeleton key that opens all the doors, it is also one soul, that is able to posses all other skeletons.The Skeleton Key created a twist, by throwing the viewer off with the obvious... And I feel, it was executed sublimely.Violet was the obvious culprit. Luke, you were very suspicious of, and once your suspicions are brought to light, you feel that perhaps, you have the film figured out, until...You find out why the mirrors aren't up. Until you find out Luke's role. Until you find out, why Ben needed to leave.I'm not a big Horror fan, but, this movie feels very original. The twists are - if you didn't see them coming, eyebrows raising. The ending is... Perhaps one of the best I've seen in the genre.ONLY with the most insanely "Justifiable" script, ONLY with that... This movie could have an awesome sequel.I started off with a 6/10, in the beginning while the mystery was being set up. It wasn't moving at a pace of my liking. However, when the story shift gears, so did my rating; from 6, to 7/10.There after, the twists and the ending... Pushed me to an 8/10.For this particular genre, I feel The Skeleton Key had some meat on it's bones. It's not necessarily scary, but, it is... Neat.

I love how the movies portray the backwoods of Louisiana to be wet, gatored-out danger zones of Voodoo, gas station dwelling creeps, and crumbling mansions — it's overtly ridiculous, but I'll be the first to admit that sometimes a little fried Southern spookiness is unbeatable. 1964's "Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte" emphasized madness and tangled itself up with Tennessee Williams-esque melodrama; 1981's "The Beyond" seemed to act as one big, inconceivable nightmare only cautioning Northerners to stay away from the South. Isn't it great how a setting can go from being a point of interest to a secondary character in a matter of seconds? How Gothic terror can seem slightly creepier as long as spells, potions, and psychological collapse are involved?The movie doing the Louisiana-based pigeonholing this time around is 2005's "The Skeleton Key", a shadow infused but ultimately safe horror movie that greatly depends on the star quality of Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, and John Hurt (the latter two hamming it up with the former emulating Deborah Kerr or Claire Bloom). It's passably entertaining, but there's something very been-there-done-that about it, either because of Hudson's character's unwillingness to hear out the handful of helpful hints to get out of the stereotyped Southern backwoods or because the "big reveal" is less shocking and more wince-inducing. Hudson convinces as Caroline Ellis, a young caretaker hired to serve the dying Ben Deveraux (Hurt). The victim of a crippling stroke, Ben cannot move or speak, but something in the air suggests that something other than mere bad health was responsible. The Deveraux household, it seems, has a long history, a history involving death, Hoodoo (not Voodoo), and other supernatural occurrences. Most, in their good senses, would get as far away from possible from the eerie, decaying mansion. Not Violet. Despite the fact that the matriarch of the home, Violet (Rowlands), is a suspicious figure, despite the fact that Caroline's skeleton key opens everything in the house besides a shady room in the attic, despite the fact that locals warn her that the Deveraux estate is not one to be trusted, she goes out of her way to not only commit to job, but also to solve the mystery that surrounds her new job. Tsk tsk.The biggest problem with "The Skeleton Key" lies in the fact that most people with common sense would leave its ghastly backwood setting in a hasty sprint — Caroline, on the other hand, figures it would be best to put her life on the line for the sake of curiosity. But curiosity kills cats, and "The Skeleton Key" works on a premise we never quite believe. There's no way someone in Caroline's position would stay as long as she does. I wouldn't. And as the film spirals into a disturbing ending that puts its lead heroine in grave danger, we aren't thrilled, rather smirking that this wouldn't have happened if she would have just let her intuition shut up for a second.But "The Skeleton Key" is made with a great deal of competence, and that, that, I can admire. It's B-movie material, but because Softley pretends it's better than it is, scares do make their way onto the scene and are delivered effectively. The mansion is a perfect balance of Gothic chilliness and candlelit spooks, seemingly gorgeous by day; the way Hurt's silent performance is completely made of unfiltered dread only awakens our own. And Rowlands, chewing the scenery like a "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" era Bette Davis, is a deliciously theatrical villain. I just wish "The Skeleton Key" was more original; while well-made, it's nothing we haven't seen before.