Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
In 'The Skeleton Key', Kate Hudson stars as Caroline, a live-in nurse who uncovers a terrifying secret in the foreboding mansion of her employer. - CONTRIBUTED
THERE ARE some skeletons best left in the closet, and the film The Skeleton Key is easily one of those.
The film is hardly able to muster up enough energy to either scare or thrill. Surprisingly, it had several of the elements that should have made for an interesting flick, but something was missing so that it turned out more foul than fair.
Written by Ehnren Kruger and directed by Iain Softley, The Skeleton Key stars Kate Hudson, and it is hard to dismiss it as bad. It simply does not live up to its potential.
Hudson plays a young would-be nurse, Caroline, who is intent upon helping the ill to die with someone to care for them. She goes deep into the bayou of New Orleans to live with an elderly couple, of which the male is dying.
When she gets there, she discovers that all is not as it seems and soon she uncovers hoodoo (not to be confused which voodoo, which would have probably helped to create a better storyline).
Interestingly, although the film takes place in contemporary America, everybody has record players and not a single CD was seen, a factor which should have been enough of a clue that something was out of whack.
Even so, it has the perfect atmosphere for a thriller, and there are sufficient creaking doors to help make the movie a little creepy.
NOTHING NEW
The Skeleton Key has a decent premise upon which an interesting thriller could have been built. However, being believable is an important element of making the movie's magic work, and there simply is not enough to sustain either interest or belief.
As such, though The Skeleton Key clearly borrows a few elements from Fallen and The Shining, it is not as intriguing as either films and brings nothing new and interesting to the table.
It may have been easier to understand what drives Caroline and, therefore, become a greater part of her journey, if it was not clear that she gets what she deserves because she does not know how to leave some things alone.
The plot is filled with her sneaking about the eerie looking house, and going behind doors which have clearly been shut for a reason. Apparently, she had never heard about Pandora's Box.
Unfortunately, the film comes at a time when naivete is not that interesting or attractive anymore, so it is not easy to sympathise with its heroine.
The attempt to give her a history does not make it clear enough about what drives her, and it would have helped if she had been driven by more than curiosity.
Additionally, the support cast was not as interesting as they needed to be in order to distract from the lack of a real mystery in the plot.
While there are good performances from Gina Rowlands and John Hurt, the script could have done without Peter Sarsgaard and Joy Bryant as they added nothing to it.
In truth, the ending is a good one and towards the end the flick seemed to be picking up, but it never gained sufficient momentum.
Unfortunately, even if one does find the ending satisfactory, one would have had to make it through the rest of the movie to get there, which is like wading about in murky water, having the sense something should have scared you but it never jumped out. So in effect, The Skeleton Key is much 'hoodoo' about nothing.
