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| 'Skeleton Key' Unlocks Entertainment |
| Decent film is saved by stunning conclusion |
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Brian Orndorf (briano)  |
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Published 2005-08-10 23:50 (KST) |
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 | |  Softley commits the tale 100%, and his slick widescreen visuals help enrich the devious nature of the story. | | | ©2005 Universal | | Caroline (Kate Hudson) is a nursing student looking to clear her head and change focus. Taking a hospice job in the swamps of Louisiana caring for a stroke victim (John Hurt) and his overprotective wife (Gena Rowlands), Caroline finds that the cavernous mansion she now calls home is filled with secrets.
Snooping in the attic, Caroline stumbles upon "hoodoo" artifacts, which lead her to investigate the malevolent black magic, much to the dismay of the family lawyer (Peter Sarsgaard). Unable to quit poking around, the deeper Caroline goes into the mystery of the house and the residents, the more she finds evil waiting for her at every turn.
Much like July's "Dark Water," "The Skeleton Key" isn't too concerned with easy scares. Reliant on tension, sweaty mood, and characterization, "Key" plays studio ball, but slightly subverts the stone-dead PG-13 horror genre with a sharp eye toward bayou theatrics, and manages to find a terrific ending that makes all the troubles getting to that point seem worth the hassle.
Director Iain Softley, recently paroled from filmmaking jail after the inexcusable "K-Pax," brings to "Key" a dedication to the "Twilight Zone" flavors of the screenplay, and a genuine love for the locales. "Key" doesn't quite reach the fever pitch of other voodoo barnstormers like "Angel Heart" or Wes Craven's "The Serpent and the Rainbow," but given the mild challenges set forth by screenwriter Ehren Kruger ("The Ring"), the film manages to remain entirely entertaining, no matter the often slack pace or cornball performances.
Softley commits the tale 100%, and his slick widescreen visuals help enrich the devious nature of the story, and go a long way to hiding the inabilities of the lead actors. It's a familiar trip into candles and chicken bones, but Softley has a steady trigger finger on the suspense button, building the film slowly before letting it rip in the final 30 minutes.
Since "Key" doesn't require acting hysteria, the film attempts to carefully balance performances all around, not always successfully. Kate Hudson earns her genre stripes with her performance, achieving a weird mix of sensuality and skepticism as Caroline's nightmare becomes progressively worse. Often simply a tool for Softley's rambunctious camerawork, Hudson does manage some good scenes of anxiety, and gives the finale her all. Less can be said of Gena Rowlands, who looks overwhelmed by the physicality of her role, and Peter Sarsgaard, who fumbles with the worst New Orleans accent heard on screen since "Hard Target."
 | | | | | | ©2005 Universal | | While "Key" stars off puttering around, gradually thickening the suspense, but never indulging too much in cheap scares or nonsense, the final act of the film is where the beauty of the production is found. While far from mind-blowing, Kruger, Softley and Universal Pictures have committed to an ending that I didn't think could exist anymore in today's marketplace. Bravo. "Skeleton Key" might not be the most riveting sit or the most frightening experience, but in a rare moment for the genre, it does get better as it rolls along, and that's good enough for me.
B
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©2005 OhmyNews
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