Entertainment Weekly by Scott Brown

For anyone zombified by creaky thriller clichés, Skeleton is a fine little shot in the head.

The Hollywood Reporter by Michael Rechtshaffen

An elegantly mounted ghost story that's steeped plenty of dank Louisiana atmosphere.

Washington Post by Ann Hornaday

The appeal of The Skeleton Key lies not in its plot but in its attention to detail, and the way director Iain Softley (still on probation for "K-PAX," but nevertheless the guy who did "Backbeat") luxuriates in the deeply textured sights and sounds of Louisiana.

Los Angeles Times by Carina Chocano

Tightly plotted and suspenseful enough to keep you guessing until the satisfying, unexpected end, which is worth suspending disbelief for. After all, as they point out in the movie, "It doesn't work if you don't believe it."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold

It's far from strikingly original, but it's well-acted, skillfully plotted and moderately chilling, and it's something slightly different in the haunted-house genre.

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.

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.

Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman

I didn't believe most of what I saw until the last 20 minutes, and whaddaya know? This thriller finally cast the spell it had been trying to achieve and lifted itself above the pack of late-summer, clean-out-the-studio-attic releases.

USA Today by Mike Clark

Director Iain Softley employs intriguing camera angles to heighten some of the suspense. It's too bad the movie goes over the top and falls apart in the last third.

Chicago Tribune by Jessica Reaves

For all its dark, Gothic intentions and supernatural twists, it lacks the emotional and intellectual punch of similarly themed films, most notably Alejandro Amenábar's "The Others."

Washington Post

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.

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.

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.

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.

Village Voice by Jessica Winter

Creaky in its mechanics and numbingly protracted, this is basement B horror that fancies itself a prestige chiller.

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.