Charity's Place.com

THE SKELETON KEY

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: witchcraft, language, violence, thematic elements

Rated:

I have never been particularly fond of ghost stories. Most of the movies my friends enjoy, I find spiritually unsettling. But time has acclimated me to certain stories more easily. The Skeleton Key is one of the more entertaining supernatural thrillers I have seen, but also has one of the most unsettling endings.

Disturbed by the lack of emotional involvement toward the patients by the people she works with at a nursing home, Carolyn (Kate Hudson) agrees to an interview in a plantation house as a private nurse for an old man who endured a stroke that paralyzed both sides of his face and hampered his speech. She is not warmly received by the man's wife, Violet (Gena Rowlands) but encouraged to stay by Devereaux family attorney, Luke (Peter Sarsgaard). He believes she can bring some happiness to the otherwise dour household. It is not long before Carolyn begins to notice strange happenings. Doors open and close by themselves. Her patient, Ben (John Hurt), seems desperate to escape, going so far as to climb out onto the roof in the midst of a thunderstorm. There are no mirrors on any of the walls. Violet also gives her a skeleton key, promising it will open any lock in the house.

It doesn't. There is a locked door behind a stack of boxes in the attic. Strange vibrations come from behind it. After breaking into the room and finding an eerie assortment of black magic ingredients and old photo albums, Carolyn demands to know the truth. The house is haunted by the malevolent spirits of two "hoodoo" servants from the 1930's. They were caught attempting to teach the master's children the dark arts and hanged. Ben is convinced they caused his stroke. Carolyn doesn't believe it, but also knows the power of faith in supernatural forces. In order to assist him recover his speech, she decides to become involved in an elaborate deception, little knowing that it will lure her into the midst of the most terrifying experience she has ever encountered.

As a horror story, The Skeleton Key knows what it's doing through building suspense. There are the sweet moments when you feel perfectly safe and then things take a sinister turn. Creepy instances about the house become troubling... the rocking chair on the porch that moves despite the lack of wind, the gruesome nightmares that invade Carolyn's dreams, and above all, a truly shocking twist ending. I usually see things of that nature coming but this one took me by surprise. The first viewing it bothered me, and by the second I acknowledged it as the genius that it is. Whether or not Christians will be troubled by it, I will leave that up to the individual. This film did not disturb me as profoundly as many others have but does rely on pagan "magic" to prove a point. It reigns supreme over the lives that encounter it, whether it is spreading brick dust across doorways to keep out evil, or spirits changing bodies through elaborate spells.

We see glimpses of the black servants casting spells, and hear them chanting on recordings. Carolyn enters a hoodoo shop to purchase supplies to cast a spell. She casts this spell and later, another one, but they both backfire on her. The film professes that if you do not believe in such things, they cannot have power over you. There are numerous frightening and scary sequences -- catching glimpses of things in mirrors, being grabbed out of nowhere, and chased through the rain. Violence involves flashbacks of two people being hanged and set on fire; a woman falls down a flight of stairs; another is nearly strangled. There are three abuses of Jesus' name, one f-word, and a few mild profanities. Carolyn's bare back and part of her breast are seen from behind as she bathes.

It was an interesting film that I found psychologically enthralling. Once you have seen the ending you know what to watch for, and in retrospect can see where the pieces fell into place. On the whole it is highly entertaining and my respect for the writer (who also crafted The Ring) is profound, but some may be bothered not only by the premise but the message that evil sometimes wins.