The Skeleton Key

The Skeleton Key was viewed on August 12 2005 at Coral Ridge Mall for the 9:20pm showing. I love horror movies, but the past few years have been disappointing in providing much in the way of fright or decent scripts, so I went to The Skeleton Key without any high expectations (if only I had done the same for Dark Water, I might have saved myself some grief).

Starring Kate Hudson as the main character, Caroline Ellis, the beginning of the movie entails a sad scene where Caroline's latest charge in the hospital goes to the great beyond. As a hospice worker, Caroline needs a summer job before heading off to nursing school in the fall. She decides to partake a position watching over a wheel-chair bound elderly man named Ben Devereaux (John Hurt, and until doing this review to check the cast, I hadn't a clue it was John Hurt) in the Lousiana deltas on an old plantation house. The man's wife Violet Devereaux, played by Gena Rowlands, is suspicious of the new girl, enigmatically pronoucing statements to dissuade Caroline from taking the job such as, "She won't understand the house," which manages to confuse Caroline as much as us.

The film's location lends an eerie atmosphere while we stumble with Caroline trying to piece together events, often wondering why she is so nosey to go into places she is told to not visit in the house (namely the attic). The house itself is strange, but Violet and her husband Ben fit the place perfectly with their own bizarre behavior. Caroline also befriends the elderly couple's lawyer Luke (Peter Sarsgaard) as her confidant to help her understand the couple and the house better.

While I cannot say that I was scared in the film at any point with the trailer more frightening in its shocking, short snippets than anything when played out in full in the movie, the story is well crafted and unique. Gena Rowlands is fantastic in her role, which is most appreciated at the end when all the events are explained. When looking back at her character, she manages to play someone not seen in film before, bringing a singular essence to it all.

Although I was disappointed by not having any truly good scares, I am ranking this film as good for the total picture (story, atmosphere and acting). I enjoyed it well, and I was surprised by the ending--definitely worth a watch on DVD or in the theatre.

Please feel free to comment on this review or on the movie itself at the forum thread devoted to it at this location.