The Skeleton Key DVD Review

"THE SKELETON KEY" reviews

DVD

THE SKELETON KEY

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-11-25 16:33:14

Provider

DVD Review

There was a time when Hollywood would reserve its horrors for the Halloween season, but with the success of films like Scream and more recently The Ring, the genre's enjoying its most lucrative era at the box office.

The latest Japanese-style frightener (it was written by The Ring scriptwriter Ethren Kruger) tells the tale of a troubled hospice carer, Caroline (Kate Hudson), attempting to make amends for the fact that she neglected her own father when he was dying. Moving to Louisiana, she begins caring for a bedridden stroke-victim, Ben (John Hurt) who can't speak. Caroline is spooked by Ben's creepy wife, Violet (Gena Rowlands), and after discovering a secret attic room, full of blood, bones and tools for witchcraft, finds herself at the centre of a sinister scheme.

With audiences currently being spoilt for shockers, producers have to pull out all the stops and Skeleton Key really delivers new frights. That's partly down to the overall macabre tone and a solid cast, particularly Hurt as the ailing Ben Devereaux whose muted agony is horribly believable. There's an abundance of cheap tricks, but what makes the film a genuine success is it's ability to reproduce the unformulaic, haunting realism of Polanski's Rosemary's Baby or Kubrick's The Shining.

Tense without relying on gore, Skeleton Key is a well above average horror tale that'll remain long in your memory, or maybe your nightmares.

DVD extras include audio commentary from director, deleted scenes, 'Behind The Locked Door': the 'Making Of' the film, 'Exploring Voodoo / Hoodoo' featurette, 'Recipe & Ritual': making the perfect Gumbo! and much more.