The Skeleton Key review
Set in a crumbling Louisiana plantation house, Iain Softley’s effectively low-key psychological thriller draws upon the county traditions of Hoodoo, felonious magic and witchcraft. Luring us into that hinterland where the teeming inform of reason leaches into the treacherous swamp of superstitious dependence, the insidious lay out by Ehren Kruger (‘The Ring’) seeps into our unconscious. Corresponding to the film’s young heroine, we are forced to question the statement of our senses, our ability to rationalise the inexplicable. Are we witnessing mischievous do not forget-games, mystical mumbo elephantine or frightening fact? ‘Almost Famous’ star Kate Hudson reveals her more serious side as Caroline Ellis, a sensible hospice coddle employed to care for the Devereaux mansion’s stroke-paralysed owner, Ben (John Hurt). As in good time as she arrives, Caroline is thrown rotten-balance by the creepy atmosphere that pervades the house, and by Ben’s intricate, overprotective partner, Violet (Gena Rowlands), who drag-feeds hints about restless spirits that must be contained. Not even the Devereauxs’ rational capital lawyer, Luke Marshall (Peter Sarsgaard), can explain away Caroline’s discovery of a locked attic room stuffed with mirrors and Hoodoo paraphernalia. Kruger’s libretto for ‘The Ring’ remake replaced the disconcerting subtleties of the Japanese original with multiplex-friendly jumps and scares. ‘The Skeleton Key’, by contrast, unfolds slowly, keeping us guessing inasmuch as almost three-quarters of the movie. Softley’s self-possessed guiding is skilfully calibrated to passage the maximum irresolution, and the garish stage performances fuse seamlessly with John Beard’s atmospheric production delineation, Dan Mindel’s verging on monochromatic cinematography and Edward Shearmur’s Southern-flavoured hosts. Nothing is forced, least of all a wily ending that bubbles up from lower than the film’s shimmering surface.Â