SKELETON KEY

US, 2005, 107 minutes, Colour.
Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarskgaard.
Directed by Iain Softley.

If you judge a city by how it appears in the movies, then New Orleans is exotic, to say the least.
With its distinctive architecture and its special jazz sound, it is a favourite location for thrillers. With its voodoo traditions, it is also a favourite location for eerie and strange horrors. Just the place for a skeleton key.

It is all a bit different for Caroline (Kate Hudson) who hails from New Jersey. Nevertheless, she takes on a job of caring for an elderly man who has suffered a stroke (John Hurt). It takes some time for his wife (Gena Rowlands) to get used to her. In the background is the family lawyer (Peter Sasgaard). Al proceeds fairly well, but there are hints… A locked room of an attic which the skeleton key will not open. What seem like voodoo relics. Mysterious photographs. And, of course, deep and dark secrets.

Kate Hudson plays the nurse as fairly tough and intrepid. By the end, you see why. Gena Rowlands has the chance to do her variation of old Gothic horror. John Hurt’s role is almost wordless (showing what a good actor he is through non-verbal communication).

It is all hokum – unless you are a superstitious type and can be taken in by ‘hoodoo’. Not particularly memorable, but classily done.

1. The title, the literal meaning, the actual key? The imaginative use of the title, cupboards and skeletons?

2. The New Orleans setting, the look, the feel, the buildings, the history and the past, the present, the sounds and the jazz, the dance? The contrast with the hospice?

3. Louisiana, the bayous, the swamps, the history, the mansions, the Gothic atmosphere? The interiors of the house? The score?

4. The explanations of the difference between hoodoo as practical magic, voodoo as a religion with a mixture of all the traditions assembled in New Orleans?

5. The familiarity of the plot, the haunted house, the magic? The twists of the plot, especially the ending? Making it all credible? The magic?

6. The introduction to Carolyn, twenty-five, her love for her father, wanting to have cared for him more before he died? Reading to the dying man, his death, taking away his personal effects, his being neglected? Her decision to change her job, reading the advertisement, discussing with Jill? The night with the jazz club, the dancing? Her driving out to the mansion, stopping for gas, the suggestions of voodoo, the blind woman? Her being alert to the Gothic aspects of the swamps?

7. The visualising of the mansion, the long drive, no trespassing? Violet and her reaction against Carolyn, Luke and his putting in a good word for her? His discussions on the phone with her? Ben and his condition, the stroke, bedridden, unable to speak? John Hurt’s communication, non-verbally? The situation, Violet and her (his?) dependence on her, her decision to stay? The rules of the house, for tending Ben? Violet exercising her control? Ben, his medicine, his ‘remedies’, the bath? Violet and the ordinariness of the house, especially her constant work in the garden? Doing the housework?

8. Carolyn, settling in, her room, the absence of mirrors, the mystery about the mirrors, the revelation about the spells, going to the attic, the locked door? The rumbling sounds? Finding the photos, especially of the children? Of the black couple? The stories, her curiosity? Finding the record, listening to it, Jill’s reaction?

9. Luke, personable, helping, the visits, the discussions about the will, about her looking after Ben, his visits? Her finally taking refuge with him, his seeming to help, the phone call, the recording? His changing, threatening to strangle her, tying her up, the return to the mansion, his involvement with the spells? The ending and the revelation of who he was and his having taken possession of the real Luke? After going out of Ben?

10. Violet, her personality, age, the history of the couple coming in 1962, the brother and sister who inhabited the house? Her telling the stories? The visualising of the flashbacks, the horror of the children with the black couple, the voodoo, the lynching party, the hangings and the burnings? The party crowd and their glee? The motivation for the killings? The motivation for the black couple getting revenge on the parents, possessing the children? Moving from people to people?

11. Ben, the storm, climbing out on the roof, his falling, his asking for help on the sheet? Fears, his upset at the mirror? Carolyn vowing to save him, dragging him out, hiding him in the shed?

12. Violet and her transformation, chasing Carolyn, Carolyn escaping in the canoe? The spells, the horror, the confrontation with Violet, her falling down the stairs?

13. The final spell, Carolyn protecting herself, Violet pointing out that she could not escape the circle? The collapse? The reality, Carolyn being possessed? Violet and her being in a stroke condition, being carried away with Ben? Luke and his being at home with Carolyn, the possessed? The threats to Jill for her drive away?

14. A satisfying enjoyable horror story, magic, ghost story?