Caroline thinks the results of one hoodoo spell are a psychosomatic symptom she says the man is only under a "spell" because he believes it. When all is said and done, the movie treats hoodoo, a very real system of magic, like a sugar pill-if you believe it is working, it does. John Hurt plays Ben, the stroke victim Caroline is assisting No one would do the things Caroline does unless they had a very big axe or the National Guard backing them up. For instance, Caroline is one of those annoying horror movie heroines who investigates every strange noise, enters a big scary house when no one answers her knocking, and actually does whatever she can to get into a mysterious attic room with a door that just keeps banging on its own. Although it is more thriller than horror, Kruger still litters his film with many horror clichés. Instead, The Skeleton Key is a suspenseful thriller with an eerie atmosphere like The Sixth Sense crossed with The Others and given a creepy New Orleans-voodoo vibe. This isn't as much a horror film as Kruger's one decent screenplay so far, The Ring (which was probably his best because it was adapted from the Japanese version). As Caroline investigates the bizarre goings-on in the house and around Ben's illness, she unveils a weird history of sorcery and voodoo. From the get-go, there is something weird about the old Southern plantation house Ben shares with his bossy and demanding wife Violet (Gena Rowlands). Skeleton Key tells the story of young New Orleans hospice worker Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson) who takes a job as the live-in nurse for Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), an elderly man paralyzed by a stroke. Despite thriller clichés and predictability, it's interesting for much of its running time, thanks to a handful of superb scenes, some natural laughs and suspense and strong performances. Kate Hudson stars as Caroline, a live-in nurse who stumbles upon a terrifying secretīut that's not to say the film doesn't have any strengths. In the case of The Skeleton Key, Kruger's ending is so derivative that if I were to mention the name of a thriller released a few years ago, you'd know almost exactly how the film ends. But Kruger's rarely surprising story twists typically make the rest of each film seem dumber. Night revealed a key detail in the shocking ending that made the rest of the movie seem smarter. The Skeleton Key is pretty much what you would expect from the screenwriter of disappointing films such as Scream 3, Reindeer Games and Arlington Road-a sometimes taut, somewhat compelling film hurt by a predictable and convoluted plot, and a big "gotcha" ending that really doesn't get ya. I'll get to the use of magic and sorcery in a moment, but first Kruger. 2) Your tolerance of movies written by Ehren Kruger. Included with this short story is a sneak peek at the first 70 pages of The Devil Colony, where a clue unlocked by The Skeleton Key will play a key role.Whether you would enjoy supernatural thriller The Skeleton Key may come down to two factors: 1) Your tolerance of dark depictions of witchcraft and voodoo. In the end, the only true hope for the world lies in a stunning act of betrayal. But in the dark, surrounded by the moldering bones of the dead, even success does not equal survival. Caught between two enemies, she must fight for her life…while time ticks down toward a fiery apocalypse. To survive, she must venture into the dark world beneath the City of Lights, into the infamous catacombs of Paris. Joined by a boy who is similarly threatened, she must rescue the son of a hated enemy, who has fallen under the sway of the nefarious leader of an apocalyptic cult. Seichan is ripped out of the Sigma series for an adventure all her own-but can she survive? The beautiful and elusive assassin wakes in a hotel in Paris with a deadly electronic collar fastened to her throat. From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a thrilling short story that delves deep beneath the city of Paris to a dark necropolis, where the only means for escape is…The Skeleton Key.
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