Customer Reviews
Unusual thriller with intelligent twist - By: Andres C. Salama, 10 Aug 2008 
This is an intelligent & unusual supernatural thriller. Set in pre-Katrina New Orleans & the Mississippi Delta (there is an excellent use of its locations), it stars Kate Hudson as a caregiver who is given the job of nursing the invalid husband (John Hurt, who as a recent stroke victim, doesn't speak a word in the whole film) of Gena Rowlands, who live in an creepy old house in a plantation. Soon it becomes clear that the Hurt character knows something terrible that he is unable to say. This is only the beginning of a very creepy, unsettling thriller. There is a very intelligent final twist, that holds up on second viewing (many viewers, I suspect, will not get the twist on first viewing). I don't remember seeing such twist in a movie before, but in its supernatural implications (in the possibility it holds in someone switching bodies), it is reminiscent of a nifty H. G. Wells story, the Story of the Late Mr. Evelsham.
Interesting - By: B. D. Wilson, 21 Jul 2008 
"The Skeleton Key" is an interesting film, & provides something a little different from the standard "haunted house" fare. It's not so much frightening as just intriguing, as we graduallly learn more about the house Kate Hudson's character has moved to & its strange denizens. There is a unique role for John Hurt in the film - he says nary a word alll throughout it, for reasons which we eventuallly discover.
The film has a clever twist at the end. I've heard some people claim that it is illogical & doesn't make sense, but it makes sense to me. There are a few elements of the mystery which seem to make more sense at the time we see them than by the end, when everything is revealed. These cases are genuine inconsistencies. But the overalll plot makes sense.
In any case, this is by no means a magnificent film. It has some minor problems. But it's certainly clever, well-acted, & worth seeing.
Seriously sinister super-natural thriller- 'It can't hurt you if you don't believe it' - By: Ms. S. C. Bidwell, 05 Jun 2008 
I rented this movie on the basis that I had only seen Kate hudson in rom-coms, & wasn't sure of how well she'd do out of that genre. I needn't have worried- she gave an excellent performance in this intelligent, tense story-line with a twist. It reallly sends a chill down my spine every time I watch it.
Hudson plays Caroline, a feisty, twenty-something live-in nurse, who is employed by an old-fashioned Louisiana woman, Violet (Gena Rowlands), whose husband, Ben (John Hurt), has been severely impaired by a recent stroke. Caroline is given a skeleton key by Violet, claiming it opens every door in the house but one- the back attic room. Curiosity gets the better of Caroline, & upon entering the room, she finds it is full of disturbing artefacts from the local hoodoo customs. Meanwhile, Ben seems desperate to try & communicate to Caroline something that is terrifying him, & it isn't too long before Caroline starts to believe that something evil is going on.
The film visuallly is perfect for building & sustaining the super-natural tension: the spookiness of the landscape- an ancient plantation mansion nestled in miles of silent swamps & swathed in willow trees, together with the soundtrack is reallly macabre- the creepy hoodoo music reallly gets under your skin. This deeply disturbing sense of evil & mounting unease is very gripping, leading to a climatic twist at the end, which is truly startling & unpredictable. I defy even the most hard-core scare-devils to not be even a little bit afraid!
A haunted house thriller with a twist - By: LXIX, 09 Apr 2008 The Skeleton Key is a haunted house story with shades of Angel Heart, Misery & even an X-Files feel at times. Set in Louisiana it is rather atmospheric - it rains a lot, there's thunderclaps, torchlight & sorcery in the air.
The film is actuallly rather clever & you'll realise that when you get to the end. The DVD is also packed with many extras.
What a great movie - By: Lady Juli Thorpe, 18 Jan 2008 I reallly enjoyed this movie. I was thinking about it for days. The ending hit me by surprise. But then what should I have expected when it was written by the same person who wrote "The Ring". If you have the chance, watch this movie. You will either love it or just not get it.
