The Skeleton Key

THE SKELETON KEY

Rating: A

Just hoodoo it.

If you're a frequent visitor to this site, about now you're probably tired of hearing me trash one horror flick after another. You may even wonder why I bother going to these films, since most of them end up getting D's or F's in my reviews. So I'll repeat: I like horror movies. Horror is one of my favorite movie genres. But for every The Omen or The Ring, there are about a hundred Dark Waters, and it gets pretty damn discouraging sometimes. Horror films seem to be the realm of hack writers and directors. Fortunately, every once in a while an entry like The Skeleton Key comes along to remind us how effective horror movies can be.

Kate Hudson plays a kind-hearted young woman with ambitions of being a nurse. Seems when her father died, she wasn't there for him in his final days, and she's been compensating ever since. We really don't need to know this, but they tell us anyway. When Hudson answers an ad for a hospice worker, she finds Gena Rowlands caring for husband John Hurt, who's just suffered a debilitating stroke. (Poor Hurt goes through the entire film in a catatonic stupor, as if an alien had just popped out of his chest or something.) Soon Hudson begins to suspect something is amiss with Rolands, Hurt, their creepy southern mansion, and the whole situation in general. First, Rowlands worries aloud that Hudson "won't understand the house." That would've sent me packing right there. Then Hudson discovers a mysterious locked door hidden away in the attic. Luckily, Peter Sarsgaard is on hand as Rowlands' attorney, to pop in and soothe Hudson's nerves every time they get into a frazzle. When movies start portraying lawyers as a source of comfort and caring, the apocalypse can't be too far down the road.

If you're worried that the whole film will just be one big buildup to what's behind the secret door, put your fears to rest. Hudson actually goes behind the green door relatively early in the movie. Deciphering the backstory to what she finds, and how it all intertwines with Rolands and Hurt, makes up the rest of the film, and director Iain Softley keeps us guessing to the very end.

About three-quarters of the way through these types of movies, you inevitably find yourself wondering, "Is any of this going to make sense in the end, or are they just force-feeding us a truckload of manure?" Well, at least I find myself wondering that. For a change, The Skeleton Key doesn't let us down. Everything falls into place like the pieces of a warped jigsaw puzzle. It's the kind of film you think about a lot during the following day, and the more I mulled over the plot points, the more impressive the movie became. But I should also warn you that all that Monday-morning contemplation will lead you to some very unsettling realizations concerning a flashback sequence. That's why they call it a horror movie.