Opening the Door to Terror
The Skeleton Key Creates New Thrills
Some horror movies have little to do with classic monsters or bloodshed but instead affect us on a totally different level. With his new film, The Skeleton Key, director Iain Softley takes on a journey into superstition as a New Jersey woman (Kate Hudson) finds herself unexpectedly immersed in Louisiana hoodoo culture and folklore. This chilling, creepy film plays with the audience and turns from a mystery into a ghost story and finally into something altogether different.
Written by: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, and Peter Sarsgaard
Rated
(for
violence, disturbing images, some partial nudity and thematic material)Running time: 104 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 7 out of 10.
In The Skeleton Key, Hudson plays Caroline, a nurse who is unhappy with the hospice where she works. She feels as if they are in the business of watching people die rather than caring for them in their final days. It isn't long before she is job hunting and finds an advertisement seeking a live-in caregiver. The job seems to be what she is looking for (and it pays very well), so she drives out to the home of Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands). Her husband Ben (John Hurt) has had a stroke and needs constant attention. According to their lawyer, Luke (Peter Sarsgaard), Ben has maybe a month left and Violet can't care for him by herself. But Violet is a stubborn woman and she seems set on keeping Caroline out of her house and her affairs.
Of course, Caroline accepts the job against her few misgivings about Violet. The old woman is a bit territorial and doesn't want Caroline doing the house cleaning. She loves the house, and has a connection to the old place and talks about showing "respect" to those who lived in the house before them. When Caroline goes into the attic to retrieve some garden seeds for Violet, she finds one door that is locked that her skeleton key will not open. Violet says it has been locked since they moved in, but Caroline is still curious.
When Caroline investigates further, she opens the door and finds a collection of old hoodoo charms, dolls, and books. She feels that there is something about the house that she has not been told and eventually confronts Violet with her newfound information. Violet tells Caroline the story of the house's first owners, their children, and the two negro servants who were hanged for trying to teach hoodoo to the children. The story sparks Caroline's interest and she wonders if there is a connection between the history of the house and Ben's alleged stroke.
The story takes a number of twists and turns, but it affects the audience on a subtle level. This is not a horror movie or a slasher flick from the '80s. The Skeleton Key is more like a good scary book that reveals itself slowly. The pieces fit together well, and the climax of the film is both a surprise and yet inevitable. This is the mark of a good story told well. The screenplay is written by Ehren Kruger, who also gave us The Ring films (the screenplay adaptation of the first and story of the second) as well as the recent fairy tale The Brothers Grimm. If this is an indication of what Kruger can do, it bodes well for his work on upcoming projects.
Excellent casting is also a key (pardon the pun) element in this film. Rowlands is grandmotherly and yet creepy as Violet, playing the role of a proper Southern woman mixed with a bit of Kathy Bates in Misery. Hurt is amazing, emoting a lot in the few wide-eyed, slack-jawed reactions that his bed-ridden character can manage. Hudson, who has tried with various degrees of success to broaden her range past romantic comedy roles, does a good turn as Caroline. It isn't until the end of the film, however, that her character becomes believable -- when her acting gives over to pure terror and she lets herself become the part.
Overall, The Skeleton Key is a good, frightening film. The only thing that keeps it from being a great film is that it doesn't resonate. The film is small, despite its stellar cast. The direction of the film is well done, but not exceptional. Likewise, the score by Ed Shearmur is wholly forgettable. Even if it isn't a timeless classic, however, it is a good scary movie that deserves to be seen.
MY RATING: 7 out of 10.
RATED:
RUN TIME: 104
min.
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