The Skeleton Key (2005)

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The decrepit Terrebonne Parish mansion is home to born-and-bred Southerners Violet and Ben Devereaux (GENA ROWLANDS and JOHN HURT) and both the house and its occupants seem weighted with somber histories. But for Caroline, the setting is unimportant—she’s there to do her job, caring for Ben after a stroke has left him nearly paralyzed and mute.

To make maneuvering throughout the large home an easier task, Violet entrusts the new live-in with a skeleton key that unlocks every door…including one that Caroline discovers obscured by a bookcase at the back of the house’s attic. Seemingly forgotten, the room holds an intriguing mix of antiques, mirrors oddly banished from the rooms below and artifacts apparently connected to the practice of a strange kind of magic—a folk magic that conflicts directly with Caroline’s common

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External Reviews

The Skeleton Key is the kind of movie in which you expect the swamps and bayous to take on a life of their own, almost becoming another character. But it never happens...The Skeleton Key delivers its share of cheap scares but never unlocks the door to the creepiness that would have made this is memorable movie-going experience. 

is a very superior horror film indeed, with a superb final act that contains a twist that, while no Sixth Sense, is just subtle enough for it to be a surprise to most, and allowing plenty of opportunity for those smartarses like me who always see the twist coming to say 'I knew it all along! 75/100

--Scott Andrews (FilmFocus.co.uk)

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...is a turgid flick that drifts as it goes through the motions of being a horror film. There are creaky doors and peeling paint and torrential rainstorms, but no building sense of dread, no hair-raising terrrors, and nothing to make the squeamish squirmintheir seats beyond the dismemberment of a plucked chicken before it becomes gumbo. 

--Andrea Chase (Killer Movie Reviews)

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A first-rate concept for a spine-tingling tale of voodoo, hoodoo and possible hauntings in the swampy Louisiana bayou, "The Skeleton Key" is rendered impotent by bland, generic execution.... 

--Rob Blackwelder

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"The Skeleton Key" is just a shaggy, Southern Gothic ``Rosemary's Baby,'' and the more you think about its racial subtext, the less you'll like it. 

--James Verniere

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Atmospheric thriller that has its daft moments but redeems itself with a genuinely shocking climax. 

--Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)

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The Skeleton Key is promising for the first hour and 35 minutes. Then it tanks. It's still an interesting movie of sorts, but the genre continues to be riddled with more and more stereotypes. This manages to break out of The Ring curse, but its impetus is the stupid twist. Let's cut the crap, Mr. Kruger, and enlighten us with something better. 

--Phil Calabro (The Movie Insider)

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The Skeleton Key is a marked improvement on some of the incredibly dumb American horrors of late, with an emphasis on story and atmosphere and barely a special effect in sight . It's watchable, but with a little more conviction on the thrill front, it could have been a cracker. 6/10

--Paul Greenwood

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Directed by

Iain Softley K-PAX, Hackers, The Wings of the Dove

Cast

Kate Hudson Almost Famous, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, You, Me and Dupree Gena Rowlands The Notebook, Taking Lives, Night on Earth John Hurt Alien, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Hellboy Peter Sarsgaard Garden State, Jarhead, Boys Don't Cry Joy Bryant Get Rich or Die Tryin', Antwone Fisher, Honey Maxine Barnett Fahnlohnee R. Harris [more]

This film is a not a scary movie this film is a thriller with some screens that will make you jump. But don’t walk into this film thinking it a horror movie if you do you will be disappointed...Overall The Skeleton Key was a good thriller that has a great ending which you will like so check it out today.  --Paul Perkins It's not easy to be scared when you're rolling in the aisles. 4/10 --Gary Panton (Movie Gazette) In Key, the audience, along with Caroline, are let into the secret of Voodoo and learn some of the quick tricks. The fact that it appears so easy to do make the film grounded more in reality, and helps aid in Kruger’s trickery of shaping what we believe (it also makes us feel extremely smart as a viewer).  --Mr Disgusting (Bloody-Disgusting.com) If you go in expecting a lot of scares then you're in for a big disappointment. The movie is more story-driven dramatic piece with some psychological aspects, so expect a lot of story and guessing. See it if you're looking for something interesting and original. 7/10 --FrighT MasteR (UHM) The movie seems to be on the edge all the way through and at the very end let loose to try and scare us but sadly don't because who is scared of a killer grandma with a shot gun she cant work?  -- (terrorwatch.net)

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