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The Skeleton Key

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Germany, United States · 2005
Rated PG-13 · 1h 44m
Director Iain Softley
Starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, John Hurt
Genre Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Caroline Ellis quits her hospital job to work at a remote plantation home in New Orleans. While in the house, Caroline finds a mysterious room that reveals darks secrets about the house's past. As she begins to investigate more, she learns that voodoo is behind many of the household problem. But is it too late to break the spell?

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What are critics saying?

50

Washington Post by

It's all ultimately made watchable by the exceptional cast ... and a story that, despite some unsavory racial undertones, holds the audience's interest even when it veers toward the downright silly.

63

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Delivers its share of cheap scares but never unlocks the door to the creepiness that would have made this is memorable movie-going experience.

20

The A.V. Club by Nathan Rabin

Wholly devoid of suspense or chills, The Skeleton Key simply bides its time until its big final plot twist, but the filmmakers don't seem to realize that a second-rate twist can't redeem a third-rate fright flick.

50

Variety by Robert Koehler

Stirring up a humid Gothic mood and amassing a gifted roster of actors, The Skeleton Key is unable to ward off the nasty spirits of formula screenwriting.

50

Dallas Observer by Robert Wilonsky

Ultimately, the filmmakers build toward a reasonably satisfying "Twilight Zone" climax, only they crawl toward the ho-hum ending; the movie appears to have been written and edited in a swamp too.

63

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

One of those movies that explains too much while it is explaining too little, and leaves us with a surprise at the end that makes more sense the less we think about it. But the movie's mastery of technique makes up for a lot.

50

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

The Skeleton Key takes its time making a slow, creeping ascent, but once it starts plummeting downward, Softley keeps things moving at a furious pace, and both Hudson and Rowlands enjoy surrendering themselves to the grandiloquent lunacy of it all.

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