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Witchy
woman: Caroline does her best to protect Ben from
the evil inside the New Orleans house in Skeleton Key.
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Caught
up in the hoodoo
Skeleton
Key
Kate
Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt
Rating:
4/5
A
KEY that opens every door in an old New Orleans house tempts
Caroline (Hudson) to explore. She doesn’t realise the one
door she can’t unlock will open a whole new world to her.
The spirit world.
Caroline starts work at the house to care for stroke victim
Ben (Hurt). She’s given an ominous warning by the lady
of the house, Ben’s creepy wife Violet (Rowlands).
Not concerned, Caroline cares for Ben but soon gets the message
that, behind the shroud of his disabled body, he’s crying
out for help. She manages to open the attic room and finds books,
records and ingredients for spells.
Violet tells her a story that 70 years ago, servants that worked
in the house practised hoodoo in the attic room and the room
had been sealed since their lynching. Apparently the servants
had tried to teach hoodoo to the children of the family. And
one of the servants was trying to develop a spell that gave
him eternal life.
She’s told that as long as she doesn’t believe in
hoodoo, it can’t affect her. She thinks that because Ben
believes in the black art, she should be able to create a counter
spell to unlock the spell that binds him. Armed with the ingredients
to fix Ben, Caroline quickly realises things aren’t what
they seem in the house.
Skeleton Key isn’t really a new concept. But this one,
made by screenwriter Ehren Kruger (The Ring), has a clever twist
that will surprise you and leave you trying to piece together
the final scenes in your head.
Kate Hudson proves to be a versatile actress; after the spate
of highly entertaining romantic comedies, she plays the sleuth/hospice
carer with ease.
This is a good movie. There are times you wonder where it’s
going, but then it all twists and turns nicely.
If you enjoy thrillers, this one casts its spell nicely and
has you guessing till the end.
–
Lieutenant Simone Heyer
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