The Skeleton Key Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
It can open any door.
You will believe.
Fearing Is Believing
A young woman helping care for an invalid in New Orleans finds herself caught in the middle of morbid going-ons centered around a group of Hoodoo (Not Voodoo, it's different. Hoodoo is an old African American magic that only works if you believe in it.) practitioners.
| Kate Hudson | Caroline Ellis |
| Gena Rowlands | Violet Devereaux |
| John Hurt | Ben Devereaux |
| Peter Sarsgaard | Luke |
| Joy Bryant | Jill |
| Maxine Barnett | Mama Cynthia |
| Fahnlohnee R. Harris | Hallie |
| Marion Zinser | Bayou Woman |
| Deneen Tyler | Desk Nurse |
| Ann Dalrymple | C.N.A. |
| Trula M. Marcus | Nurse Trula |
| Tonya Staten | Nurse Audrey |
| Thomas Uskali | Robertson Thorpe |
| Jen Apgar | Madeleine Thorpe |
| Forrest Landis | Martin Thorpe |
| Iain Softley |
6.40 out of 10 (15242 votes)
Visitor Reviews
The Lost Key
posted on 26 Aug 2009The Skeleton Key, the genera of the film was advertised as Horror but as usual the film turned out to be a thriller. The Director Iain Softley who lost the key throughout the movie makes it up with a fine climax.The film is quite guessable right from the beginning except the CLIMAX (must be inspired by Manoj Night Shyamalan). You get the same wine but this time in a fresh bottle. The K(ute)ate Hudson (remember How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days) in a thriller, I thought they would have messed up with her but she along with Gena Rowlands and John Hurt has done a wonderful job.The tag line of the movie says "It can open any door" but nothing was closed in the movie (including kate). The director should have spent some more time in making the movie more compact from the beginning.The Skeleton Key is a nice movie for those who haven't watched many horror flicks. But for those who have seen a lot only the last 10 min of the film was different. On the whole die hard Kate Hudson fans will not be disappointed while leaving the cinema hall and that includes ME.
Suspenseful and surprising movie!
posted on 24 Aug 2009This movie is definitely my favorite movie ever. It was packed with suspense and action. So many mysterious things happening and you can't wait to see what will happen! I was wary about seeing this movie...It seemed like it would be another overdone horror. However, this was not a horror film. It was more of a thriller type. You learn about the eccentric religion of Hoodoo and about the strange happenings going on in the South. Kate Hudson is absolutely phenomenal playing Caroline. She captures the character perfectly and there were so many twists in this thriller.Great acting. Great storyline. Great ending!
Scary?
posted on 08 Aug 2009Is this movie any good? Is it really scary? Possibly. How could we know? If it's answers you want, than answers always follow some questions.And boy, do I have a few for you.If you saw a door-knob jiggling on it's own, wouldn't that be enough to alarm you into leaving?Not enough for you?What if someone were chasing you with some unknown foul play? Would you run upstairs? Or out the door? Wasn't this a joke in the Scream films half a decade ago?If someone couldn't speak, would you sleuth around town for a brand of hoodoo to pry open his vocals? Or how 'bout GIVING HIM A PEN AND PAPER? I mean, after all, didn't we just see him write perfectly fine with a handy blanket and pot o' soil?If say you thought it would be a brilliant idea to practice black magic on YOURSELF, your person, your very first and last piece of skin, would you... practice smack dab in the middle of a candle-lit ALTER?Or how 'bout this.If an OLD LADY, no, sorry, CRIPPLED, OLD LADY were chasing, er, crawling at you with a kettle of foul play brewing in her soul, would you... run away? Or! Why not beat the everliving snot out of her because she's A CRIPPLED, OLD LADY.Or lastly, if some, oh I don't know, villainy character was planning that illusive foul play aforementioned would you... go to the police? Or would you go to the PSYCHO'S BEST FRIEND??Oh wait, what about the theme? It can't hurt you if you don't believe, eh? So does this mean I can jump out of a plane and be fine so long as I don't believe in gravity? Or is this just about the dumbest conclusion anyone could think up?Speaking of which, if you're the kind of character that would answer these questions in exactly the opposite way any normal, heck, even half-wit out there reading this would, then it's no wonder you'd wind up where the plot led our story's hero.Let's be serious now, folks. A scary idea can only go so far without any support. And this doozy of a scary ending gets the legs kicked right out from under it by none other than itself: it's very own pitiful plot structure.
Flat thriller with unacknowledged similarities to Fritz Leiber's "Conjure Wife"; you're better off with "The Cat and the Canary," Val Lewton—or even "Scooby Doo"
posted on 21 Jul 2009Caroline (Kate Hudson) is a kindly young nurse who, exasperated with the callousness of her hospital co-workers, takes a job in a Louisiana backwater caring for a mute victim of stroke (John Hurt). She meets the family's young lawyer (Peter Sarsgaard), who seems sympathetic, and her charge's wife (Gena Rowlands), who seems sinister, especially when she proves to be a practitioner of hoodoo (which the script takes pains to distinguish from voodoo). Caroline is given a skeleton key that unlocks every door in this old plantation home—except the one to the attic.At first I thought this movie was a revival of that horrible old genre where supernatural occurrences in a spooky old house are explained away at the end as the machinations of devious criminals. The best example is "The Cat and the Canary," but my generation knows the formula from the TV cartoon, "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" Then I thought it was aiming more for the style of Val Lewton's 40s horror films—where strange occurrences may or may not really be supernatural. It turns out "Skeleton Key" is an unofficial remake of "Conjure Wife" by Fritz Leiber. The novel is long out of print, and its own movie adaptations end differently, but the few who have read it will recognize the similarity between Leiber's book and this film immediately.I liked some of the themes: Do the old feed off the young? Do supernatural forces exist; and if so, what makes them work? How powerful is mere belief? But the thriller trappings are awful and awfully typical. Caroline is given the most unsubtle clues to the presence of danger—the invalid literally spells it out for her on a bed sheet. Her reaction: Hm, there's something mighty funny going on around here. All the surprises are unsurprising except the last one—which worked much better in "Conjure Wife." It's always nice to see old actors like John Hurt and Gena Rowlands; but Kate Hudson is vapid. The script's characterizations are informed not by knowledge of human nature, but the writer's ham-fisted attempts to make points about sexual and intergenerational politics. Most scenes are flat; others are worse, especially that ludicrous flashback: people who look as if they stepped out of "The Great Gatsby" suddenly lynch their servants.If you like the voodoo theme but want to see a better movie, try Val Lewton's "I Walked With a Zombie."
Just don't call it "horror"
posted on 21 Jul 2009This is not a bad little movie.Caroline (Kate Hudson), a hospice caretaker and nursing student, quits her job at a corporate-style nursing home to take a position home-caring for a dying old man in a creepy antebellum mansion deep in the New Orleans swamps. Over the course of her care, she gets to know -- and fear -- the man's odd wife and their odder house, which stores some dark, voodoo-inflected history in a locked attic room.The filmmakers bill this as "an American ghost story," probably with an eye toward the fact that many of the most successful recent efforts in the genre have originated on foreign shores. To that end, they do well to pay as much attention as they do to the landscape. The camera lingers over kudzu vines, mud, and twisted cypress trees, and the sense of grimy, muddy Americana is present throughout much of the film. Oddly, the only disjointed bits here are the scenes set back in the city of New Orleans, which comes across in tight-focus shots as much smaller than its expansive, flamboyant reality.There are some good performances, particularly from Gena Rowlands as the aging wife, who plays it up with the same sense of decaying grandeur as the house and the swamp itself. There are a few genuine startling revelations, happily not in the places you'd expect them. This is a pretty good atmospheric little tale, close to the same emotional tone as Angel Heart or Turn of the Screw.What this is *not*, however, is a horror flick. The ghastly bits have more to do with very human venality, selfishness, and squeamishness. The main fright here is not the supernatural, nor even the threat looming over some of the characters. The fright is in the human motivations, the greed, that drive that threat. Don't go in expecting the popcorn-munching fun of Thirteen Ghosts, nor the rather better creepy chills of Ring or Sixth Sense. There aren't more than one or two 'effects shots' in this flick, and that's a good thing. The fact that it will still be sold under the 'horror' label at your local video store is testament more to the limited imagination of marketers than it is to the limited scope of the movie itself. Kudos to the creators for not going for the easy chills.
Ehren Krueger...
posted on 21 Jul 2009...couldn't write a good movie to save his life. He seems to get all these interesting genre projects, and RUINS them with his lowest-common denominators scripts directed at a populace too stupid to figure things out for themselves. He ruined the Scream series, the Impostor, Ring was just taken directly from the Ringu film, Ring 2 was TERRIBLE, and now he's going to ruin John Carter. The worst A-list writer in Hollywood. This film was predictable, NOT AT ALL SCARY, had no mood (a lot is the director's fault), boring, trite garbage. The ending is a surprise if you haven't been paying any attention and were talking on your cell phone during the whole film. Now I'm afraid to see Brother's Grimm, even with Gilliam directing, the script HAS to suck. Ugh.
Good movie
posted on 09 Jul 2009The twist ending raised this from a C+ movie to a B+ movie. I did not see that coming. I heard about the twist but as it was happening I was caught off guard and didn't get it immediately but it works. It made the behavior of the Sarsgaard character and Sarsgaard's performance make a lot more sense. It is a visually impressive movie, Iain Softley and cinematographer Daniel Mindel did a great job, especially with the flashbacks and all of the candle work. A real good scene involves the Hurt character climbing out of his room onto the roof. This movie has the kind of red herrings that should be studied.Kate Hudson's performance was good as she makes you root for a somewhat unsympathetic character. She nails the final pivotal scene.
A twist that will leave your head spinning!
posted on 07 Jul 2009Intelligent, stylish, and compelling all the way, The Skeleton Key is one of the best supernatural thrillers in years!Young nurse takes up a job at an isolated bayou estate, where she begins to believe that someone is messing with some sinister magic.Director Iain Softley gives this film some nice style, using the feverish swamp setting to build an atmosphere of tension and the unknown. However it's really Ehren Kruger's cleverly crafted story that will draw one into the film. Kruger delivers a tale full of mystery and unsettling sequences, all of which builds to a terrificly twisted finale. It's a true surprise! Kate Hudson makes for a good female lead, but Gena Rowlands is probably the best of the cast as her shadowy character. Peter Sarsgaard does a nice turn as the family lawyer, while John Hurt makes the most of playing a mute old man.For those seeking a great supernatural thriller, look no further than this terrific hit. It may be one of the best supernatural shockers of 2005!*** out of ****
OK suspense-thriller-type jazz
posted on 05 Jul 2009Hey, it's not the greatest movie ever but it does well. A little fake out here, a simple twist over behind your back, some seltzer in your pants. It's all fun. Well, not fun really. Some scratches and broken bones, some substantial local flooding, some hurt feelings surely but no big monsters, no scary ghosts trying to eviscerate people - generally just no good news for the nice girl who stumbles into the Southified supernatural realm without an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on her back. Sure it will do lots to keep folks from moving the the bayou and I'd bet the bayou folks will be just fine with that. Truthfully I never thought New Orleans would be much fun anyway.
Not the worst horror movie ever, but pretty ugly.
posted on 03 Jul 2009I've seen it at a sneak preview here in Germany. I am not a big fan of horror movies, but i think that anyone should expect more than just some bounces in the music from a film that is supposed to be scary. The story was just silly, so silly that even the acting and the direction seemed to be a little better in comparison. K-Pax was not a masterpiece, but i didn't expected that the same director could made such a bad movie. At least some bad horror movies are funny, this is only simply boring. Why did two young (one talented too) actors take part in such a mess is a mystery (a more interesting mystery than the one of the plot) Definitely not suggest.
I haven't seen a good thriller/horror movie since "The Others"
posted on 01 Jul 2009The movie starts with Kate Hudson, a nurse dissatisfied with her nursing job at the hospital which is why she takes a private nursing job for an elderly man who has suffered a stroke and is living with his wife in the big mystery house.It seems like the movie starts a bit slow, but really it gives you just the right time to get a good feel of all the characters and more importantly the house. Some parts of the movie you don't really get which just adds to the mystery.I have always loved Kate Hudson in her romantic comedies and I was really eager to see what she would be like in this movie. She did really well and I can't think of anyone who would have been more appropriate for the role.The whole movie goes really well and the end is really satisfying and really opens the door for a sequel.It doesn't feel like I've given this movie its worth in words but I am being very careful not to spoil the movie for you and trust me, you don't want to read any reviews with spoilers before seeing this movie.A few hours and dollars well spent.
Mediocre, But Entertaining
posted on 17 Jun 2009I'm glad to see that Hollywood is once again interested in making horror films, but I do not think this film can be categorized as a good modern spookfest. Kate Hudson plays a caregiver who is hired to nurse a crippled old man. But Hudson soon realizes that the old man's present condition is a result of something very sinister. You know this is not the kind of film that you take seriously, when you realize that Hudson's idea of a stable job is working for a man who is on the brink of death (!). There are many other inconsistencies along the way. The "haunted-house" clichés come and go, but director Softley never creates a believable atmosphere of mystery. It is a good time filler, though. Hudson is always good, and she has her mother's ability to turn dreck into passable entertainment. Old pro Gena Rowlands is surprisingly spry at cat-fighting. John Hurt is wasted in one of those useless roles older actors are forced to do nowadays. Not very good, but entertaining if you lower your expectations.
Skeleton Key has some flesh on its bones
posted on 15 Jun 2009This is actually quite a clever little movie which I think will be criminally overlooked. Its a supernatural thriller in the spirit (ha!) of films like The Others. Old houses, creepy noises and plot twists are the order of the day, but The Skeleton Key still has enough charm to stand out from the crowd.The film revolves around a young nurse played by Kate Hudson who, disillusioned with the uncaring nature of the home that she works in, takes a job caring for a paralysed guy in a creepy old house in New Orleans alongside his wife. Pretty soon strange noises in the attic, and talk of ghosts and hoodoo (which "isnt like voodoo at all") set Kate out on a journey to investigate the secret of the house using her skeleton key.Like a lot of films it seems pretty straightforward until the 3rd act, where the Big Revelation(tm) will get you analysing everything you've seen earlier on in the film. Unlike a lot of other films The Skeleton Key makes a lot of sense, its very neat, and once you properly figure it out, everything in it falls into place. What's really wrong with Ben? What happened to the slaves? Whats the deal with the mirrors - was Micheal Jackson a former owner? All will have you smiling slyly to yourself as the pieces of the jigsaw neatly align.A very satisfying and creepy little film, worth watching for the gorgeous Kate Hudson alone.
Looks like a novel brought into the light almost!
posted on 11 Jun 2009Seeing this movie for the first time, and I know it's a big hit! Kate Hudson(Goldie Hawn's Daughter) does a spectacular performance as a nurse with a conscience, for the sick. She plays Caroline Ellis, a Jersey girl in New Orleans who goes to this house with some serious dark secrets. Gena Rowlands plays Violet, a peculiarly strange woman with some secrets of her own. John Hurt plays Ben, a stroke victim who lives in fear of his wife. The intensity of this movie makes fun to watch, not too violent, nor boring in every way. Kate Hudson is indeed the spitting image of her mom, Goldie. Imagine if Goldie did this movie herself. The magic Hoodoo, it's really intriguing for those who believe it. For her role as Carrie, Katie is indeed no-nonsense. After meeting the woman in the hoodoo shop, the woman there gives her some strong points that makes it very helpful to the case. The red brick dust, who would have thought of that? And Gena Rowlands still has the spunk after all the movies she has done. This movie is a real keeper, and it's highly recommendable for all. Rating 4 out of 5 stars.
Masterpiece of the genre... but I find it hard to take.
posted on 09 Jun 2009Yes, this is a classic supernatural thriller, and perhaps it is a testament to it's success as art, that I found it hard to take. The ending is the axis upon which the whole film revolves and indeed, the twists therein make it what it is. However, that's exactly where my problem lies. Despite the intricately woven plot, and the character development of the main protagonist 'Caroline'(Hudson). The morality of the 'twist' ending grates at me, much like being cheated out of something rightfully mine. The fact that the film makes you invest so heavily in the 'Caroline' character, then takes everything away from her leaves me gasping at the injustice. At no stage of the plot exposition is the audience given any reason to believe that 'Caroline' deserves the fate that befalls her. So when I question the moral compass of the film, I suppose I'm really wrestling to discover what is the true subtext of the piece. Is it -bad things happen to good people??? Or is it -sometimes the bad guys win? I have little cause to doubt that the film is exactly how the film-maker wanted it to be. Therefore, my gripes rest with what I see as a vindictive play on the audience's emotions on the part of the film-makers. So in summary, I'd have to commend Ian Softley on his mastery in crafting this film, a true credit to the genre. Yet I can't help but feel that on some level, it's impact relies more on flaunting the popular conventions of film(ie. letting the bad guys win), rather than any genuine resonance to do with plot or story. Perhaps the writer, Ehren Kruger is more responsible for this point. However, I will recommend this film for those don't mind a slower paced, intelligent thriller that certainly evokes plenty of emotion with it's ending. For me, the emotion was that of profound sadness for 'Caroline'.
Southern-fried hoodoo voodoo.
posted on 05 Jun 2009Slow going, disturbing drama set outside New Orleans. Caroline(Kate Hudson)takes a $1,000 a week job as a hospice worker taking care of an elderly woman's(Gena Rowland)dying husband(John Hurt). Being a live-in care giver, Caroline is given a skeleton key that opens every room in the rundown, remote delta mansion. It is odd that no mirrors are on the walls of the rambling homestead and Caroline's skeleton key will not open a hidden room she discovers in the attic. Rain and thunder make great accent for this supernatural themed flick. Be prepared to jump to the edge of your seat a couple of times...you are due. Rounding out the cast are: Peter Sarsgaard and Joy Bryant.
Was I the Only One Who Didn't Find the Ending Unpredictable?
posted on 24 May 2009With a sub-par acting performance by an otherwise talented Kate Hudson, "The Skeleton Key" coasts from start to finish on the fumes of a failed supernatural thriller which intends to frighten, or at the very least unnerve, but succeeds only in caressing the surface of a culture and unwinding to a highly predictable and highly disappointing end.Hudson plays Caroline, a hospice worker with a past that includes "helping out with some friends' bands" and not helping out when her father was on his death bed; the latter haunts her into caring for a stroke victim in swamp country on the outskirts of New Orleans. Thinking of it as a way to earn enough money for nursing school, Caroline prepares to spend a month living and assisting the churlish, ultra-traditional Violet, and her incapacitated brother, Ben.From the get-go, we learn that Violet is "old-south", and subscribes to all manner of the supernatural, mostly in the form of hoo-doo, a blend of religions and customs that has a very black magic feel to it. Soon, Caroline begins to witness creepy events that seem to be easily attributed to hoo-doo, which only affects those who believe it. For Caroline, there is not much convincing needed, and she soon falls victim to relentless terror and inexplicable madness - all of which, the audience must soon realize, is the handiwork (spoiler alert) of some slaves.For me, the film is soggy from the beginning due to a weak, undeveloped plot, and is worsened by campy, processed dialogue. Even with these set backs, the real trouble with the film arises with its inability to avoid tripping over itself - aspects of the film that seem promising become rushed, drawing out the aspects of the film that are trite and overworked.Now, I am not usually the type to criticize a film for these reasons alone - some of my favorite films are action films and thrillers with about as much intelligence or artistry to them as a home video - but I have a particular problem with "The Skeleton Key" for one main reason: it takes itself too seriously. It demands respect, seeming to cite its location and subject matter as reason it deserves so. But finding any grounds for giving this respect proves a losing cause.
Solid Southern Shocks
posted on 18 May 2009It seems that it's only in the last few years that horrors and related genres of shockers etc. have really come back into their own in the mainstream. Movies like 'Ring' really brought the public back into the darkness they sought to hide from. This particular example is very much along the "sudden shock" line. Kate Hudson plays a carer who goes to a home in the Deep South to provide hospice care to a man who has recently suffered a stroke. After a short time she grows aware of the hoodoo history of the house and begins to suspect all is not what it seems, which is of course true! Peter Sarsgaard's southern accent wasn't not truly believable for me but his and the other players' performances were generally of a high standard for something of this ilk. There's a bit of a twist in the end of this tale although some will see it coming from afar. Overall this is a descent enough outing and goes well with the mindless munching of popcorn on a couch in a suitably darkened room. Not one that'll be treasured forever but it'll make you start and jerk a few times and there's a lot worse out there.
Unique, exceptional horror.
posted on 10 May 2009This one is all about suspense. It's not part of the slasher genre that has become oh so popular in modern film. Kate Hudson did an excellent job, and in general, the acting was superior for the genre. The pace varies as the film progresses, but it's always fitting. The plot is relatively unique for the genre, though I won't go into the details. Some moments really scare, and even in the calmest moments, the tension doesn't let up entirely. It has only a few moments designed to make you jump, but it's always a bit uncomfortable, because you never know what's going to happen next, and by the time the film ends and everything is explained... well, everyone has a different reaction. I went GASP. I was really uncomfortable after seeing this film. It definitely works. I would recommend looking into this. 8/10
Badly written, badly directed, badly plotted... but...
posted on 26 Aug 2009Despite the fact that this is one of the least intelligent fright flicks to come out of Hollywood in years, despite the fact that the director thinks that the way to scare people is to turn the camera upside-down and shoot from weird angles, despite the fact that the script has more holes than a hunk of Swiss Cheese, despite the fact that the plot was designed to appeal to a seven year old's mind, despite the fact that the ending is so stupid as to be frightening only because you can't believe that anyone could create something so lame... Peter Sarsgaard gives a great performance, and even Kate Hudson does well.... You just wish these actors could have worked with a smarter director and script.