It has become a sort of rite of passage for any young attractive female actress to front a supernatural thriller. Halle Berry did it in Gothika, Nicole Kidman with The Others, Jennifer Connelly with Dark Water and Naomi Watts with The Ring (to name but a few). It helps to feminise a traditionally male-orientated genre and also provide eye candy for the predicted male contingent. This time it’s the turn of How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days star Kate Hudson.

Caroline (Hudson) is a carer of elderly people. Disillusioned by the impersonal ways in which the hospitals treat them she decides to take a private job. At a grand house in the deep south Violet cares for her sick husband Ben. His stroke has meant he is unable to speak. Caroline initially encounters hostility from Violet and understands why the job has been previously vacated by others. Violet gives Caroline a skeleton key which is said to open every door in the house. Except Caroline has found a door which the key won’t budge. It’s in the attic where Ben had his stroke, and is surrounded by bizarre ritualistic paraphernalia. She soon uncovers a secret world of magic, but it only hurts you if you choose to believe.

The Skeleton Key, for the most of the time, is a surprisingly classy thriller. As well as the Oscar nominated Hudson, there’s Gena Rowlands, John Hurt and Peter Sarsgaard to fill out the cast. It’s written by Ehren Kruger who penned the excellent remake of The Ring and it comes from British director Iain Softley. The opening scene, usually a place for shock tactics within this genre, is a careful and poignant prologue which outlines the sensitivity of the lead character.

Hudson makes for an eminently likeable heroine as her initial disbelief soon subsides. The film makes use of the moody Deep South setting, even if the conveniently frequent storms are rather tiring after a while. The film relies more on mystery than horror and Hudson’s quest for the truth is compelling. There are however an array of limp and predictable shots where someone is behind someone or something unexpectedly falls off the side etc. The film is more successful when its giving us intriguing questions that we want to know the answer to.

Rowlands, Hurt and Sarsgaard are all fantastic support and add an extra weight to the film. As the final reel approaches its clear the twists are going to begin and the finale becomes suitable overwrought. There are some clumsy moments but the eventual reveal is surprising and makes the rest of the film infinitely more comprehensible and cleverer than one may immediately expect. The ending is rather downbeat especially for such a mainstream thriller. It’s also rather silly and any critics of the film will surely find much to slate.

Arriving within a limp year for such films, The Skeleton Key is a solid success. It’s not quite scary enough to warrant an excitable recommendation but its an entertaining two hours nonetheless. Gladly it’s also a concept which isn’t the basis for a sequel or a remake, a rarity within the Summer madness. An intriguing chiller then, which manages to keep silliness at bay, at least up until the end.

www.theskeletonkeymovie.com





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