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What's the Story, Mornin' Glory?
The Skeleton Key
(2005)
Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson) is a hospital worker who is sick of the politics that go on in the hospital that she works at. After a patient she cared for dies she decides to start new and look for a new job. She scores an interview for a job way down into the bayou of Louisiana as a hospice worker for a thousand dollars a week. Her job would be to take care of an old man, Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), who had a stroke and is completely paralyzed. His wife Violet (Gena Rowlands) is reluctant to hire an outsider to take care of her husband, but with some coaxing from their family lawyer Caroline soon moves into the enormous plantation.
The first thing that Caroline notices is that there are no mirrors in the home. When Violet gives Caroline a skeleton key that opens all 30 rooms in the home, strange things begin to happen right away. Two days into her job Ben tries to escape the house by dragging himself out of his window and rolls off the roof and Caroline gets the distinct impression that Ben is trying to ask for her help. The day after Ben tries to escape, Caroline goes snooping in the attic to check out the only room that her key doesn't seem to work in. She finally opens it and discovers that it's filled with skulls, spell books, strange records, dolls, and organs in jars. Violet almost catches her in there and Caroline makes a beeline to New Orleans to ask her best friend what was up. Her friend explains that what she saw was a hoodoo room, but if she didn't believe then it wouldn't hurt her. While Caroline tries to find out what really happened to Ben, she begins to believe and that's the most dangerous thing of all.
You Learn Something New Everyday...
 Reading books can kill.
Any good party ends with a lynching.
It's okay to root through blind people's stuff. They're blind.
Zing!
"Child, I believe you broke my legs." -Violet to Caroline.
Survey SAYS...
The best way to enter a movie is to expect very little from it. That's why super hyped up movies often end up being lackluster and that's why you should give that movie that everyone thinks sucks a chance. Yeah, the movie may totally suck, but it might also be a really good movie. That's why I'm here to give it to you straight my friends.
I was told that The Skeleton Key was a bad movie with a stupid ending, but I was pleasantly surprised. Lately I've seen so many movies that claim to have this "crazy surprise ending" or "awesome plot twists", but unless you sleep through half of the movie then you can pretty much guess these amazing "twists." With this in mind, I was totally expecting a lame movie with an ending that would be totally obvious and dumb early on. When the first plot twist occurred I was so disappointed. The lawyer was involved? Ugh, how unoriginal! I thought that was going to be it. Oh no, the lawyer is in on the whole thing, she's going to go to him for help and then he's going to take her back to where she just escaped from. Hmm, does that sound like a million other movies you've seen? Sure, that very situation occurs, but the ending was totally not like that at all. This was an ending that I didn't guess, had no idea it was coming, and in fact didn't even think of it myself. The writer deserves some major kudos for that. I am actually surprised that so many people disliked The Skeleton Key. Even though it was advertised as such, it wasn't a horror movie, which I think a lot of people were expecting. Again, with the false advertising. That can really break a movie if people go in expecting one thing and getting something else. So, it wasn't a horror movie, but it was a good suspense thriller. There wasn't blood, guts, or any gore, but there were a few parts that really made me jump. The story was interesting and fresh. It was nice.
However, there are a few things that annoyed me. How in the heck does Violet recover so quickly from being drugged? Caroline pours almost an entire bottle of whatever that stuff was (some paralysis drug or a sedative) and five minutes later the lady is up walking about. Hoodoo power or not, I don't think anyone is getting up after an entire bottle of that stuff. Also, Caroline is really pushy and kind of rude. She doesn't even know these people and she's demanding to know why there are no mirrors in the house and then she puts them back up like she owns the place. She locks herself in rooms with Ben and never does what Violet asks of her. She's always overstepping her boundaries, it was annoying and really unrealistic. Who does that in a someone else's house with people she barely knows for two days?
These things aside, I wish they had explored hoodoo a little more and all the stuff in the attic. Despite the entire movie revolving around hoodoo, nothing is really explained or shown. In all though, this was a really good and interesting movie and if you go in expecting a mediocre movie, you might think it's pretty awesome. So, if you like...a cinematic nod to Strangeland, the severing of chicken parts, lots of drugging, old people falling, and crazy blind women, then this is the flick for you. As for us...we give The Skeleton Key
That Wasn't so Bad Was It?
I was left Feeling: Impressed
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