The Skeleton Key (2005)

 Originally Reviewed

Thursday January 5, 2006

All Caroline (Kate Hudson) wants to do is help people; she still holds the pain of losing her father and never having had the chance to take care of him. As a nurse she has the opportunity to help people, but at the hospital everyone is treated as a body taking up a bed, no one cares about them. Caroline decides to take a job as a hospice worker for an old man, Ben Devereaux, who has had a stroke and can no longer move or speak. Violet, Ben's wife, presents Caroline with a skeleton key which opens all the doors in the house, all except a hidden door shadowed by the darkness of the attic, the same place were Violet claims Ben had his stroke. 

Violet claims the room has never been opened, but Caroline finds Violet's response to be rather twisted. She opens the door herself to discover a room full of Hoodoo enchantments, and begins to get a feeling that there is a little more behind Ben's "stroke" than what she has been told. In her snooping she's completely unaware that she is opening a can of worms that could quite possibly cost her life. But the whole reason she continues to stay is the hope of saving Ben and getting him out of the house alive.

The Skeleton Key turned out to be much more enjoyable than I expected it to be, containing everything that makes a good thriller; an interesting story (which continues to build upon itself as new information is provided) and plenty of tense scenes. While most of these can be predicted ahead of time and aren't that scary they still add a little tension to the film. As far as the acting I think the two main characters did a great job. This is an unusual role for Kate Hudson and I thought she played the part very well as she had the terrified and tormented look down pretty well. As for Violet, played by Gena Rowlands, she did a great job playing the odd and at times very creepy old woman, you might remember her as the grown up Allie in The Notebook.  

Ultimately, The Skeleton Key this is your average thriller.  It keeps you alert and guessing as to what's going to happen next and whose responsible for it all. At times things are quite predictable but still it all manages to be fairly entertaining. The ending is both surprising, and somewhat disappointing, as it's definitely not going to be what you expected.  I kept hoping there would be another twist but it never came. In the end, this is a decent rental, and an entertaining thriller with a rather disappointing ending, at least it was for me.

7/10