THE SKELETON KEY (2005)

The Skeleton Key is a horror/thriller that relies on excellent direction and good acting more than it does on its light fright elements. It's a nice change of approach for a film of this sort with more focus on mood and storytelling and less reliance on jump out scares and dull horror cliches. The script is well written and the characters nicely cast, but the movie does miss a few golden chances to be a little more frightening and creepy which does make for a few uneventful moments.
Kate Hudson turns in a very good performance as Caroline Ellis. Caroline has decided to help care for an elderly stroke victim at a eerie house in New Orleans but shortly after her arrival she is drawn into some strange and creepy activities by her employers which involve the strange practice of Hoodoo. That's right, Hoodoo. From what I understand Hoodoo is like Voodoo but there is no religion involved and instead more of an emphasis is placed on an individual's magical powers. If this is true, then I plan on becoming a Hoodoo master with a wide arsenal of curses at my disposal. Anyway, Caroline slowly puts together many pieces of this sometimes slow moving puzzle. John Hurt delivers another quietly excellent performance as Ben Devereaux, the invalid Caroline is looking after. Caroline knows he's afraid of something but can't quite put her finger on it but she suspects Ben's wife Violet (Gena Rowlands) knows much more than she's letting on. Gena does an excellent job playing the shadowy Violet Devereaux. Her performance is essential to making The Skeleton Key's twist ending work, which it does so very well. The consistently spectacular Peter Sarsgaard plays Luke, an attorney overseeing the Devereaux's interests.

Iain Softley's direction is near flawless and he sprinkles the film with some beautiful shots. Ehren Kruger's script is very effective as far as its storytelling and dialogue go. If he could have thought up a few more interesting scenes involving the mysterious Hoodoo magic or another more action oriented scene in the middle it would have helped to inject a little more pace to liven things up a little. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the story that steadily unfolds, but there were times where I was hoping for something more dynamic to occur in an effort to catch me off kilter
For me, Skeleton Key's twist ending worked perfectly. I suspected, as most people will when watching the film, that certain characters might be the villain in the end, but the slippery finale came completely out of the blue. Usually I can sniff out twist endings like 15 to 30 minutes into a film, but this one had me guessing all the way, which made me enjoy it that much more. it isn't too elaborate but it works perfectly within the story's confines. My only complaint in relation to the ending is the music which plays over the final credits. It was completely out of character with the whole vibe of the movie but in general the music was perfectly fitting for the film.

Overall The Skeleton Key is a technically sound effort, and a gracefully good movie. Its shortcomings in the horror department however are a little disappointing and keep it from being something more special. I'm all for good storytelling and acting but when it comes to horror films, or thrillers that have a leaning towards horror, I expect a little more in the way of thrills and chills. That said, it's still an expertly told yarn that was pleasantly fun to watch, and it does have a couple of good creepy moments in it to boot.