When it comes to horror movies and suspense/thrillers in general, the use of voodoo as the catalyst for thrills, chills and scares has always been something of an ugly stepsister to its more prominent and/or successful genre siblings. It might strike fear in the hearts of those who believe in it, but it usually only appears in "B" horror flicks and the notion of voodoo dolls and such is far more often derided than viewed as true scare material.
In fact, probably two of the most prominent films featuring it -- "Live and Let Die" and "Angel Heart" -- weren't considered scary movies in either concept or execution (at least in the traditional sense of the word). That, however, apparently didn't deter director Iain Softley ("K-PAX," "The Wings of the Dove") from heading down to bayou country and trying to put a spell on moviegoers with "The Skeleton Key."
007, Mickey Rourke and that Cosby kid are nowhere to be found in this spooky thriller wannabe that has its moments -- and thankfully isn't as bad as it seemed it might be -- but isn't terribly scary, suspenseful or memorable. Working from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger ("The Brothers Grimm," the "Ring" movies), Softley gets us hooked right away, but only because of the presence of the lovely Kate Hudson ("Raising Helen," "Almost Famous") who -- looking and sounding more and more like her mom Goldie every day -- lights up the screen with her megawatt personality, even if she doesn't smile that much or at all here.
And that brightness is crucial because -- as is to be expected in a film of this genre -- so much of it's dark in terms of lighting as well as tone. Kate plays New Orleans based caretaker Caroline Ellis who accepts an in-home hospice job in an old plantation house (first clue that potential scares lie in wait) that's had its mirrors removed (2nd clue) and features a locked secondary door in the attic (the third) of the type only filled by Hollywood set designers and prop masters.
Anyhow, all of that arouses Kate's curiosity, or at least that of her character, and, well, you know what they say about that and inquisitive felines. As she progressively uncovers all of the secrets, the voodoo comes into play. To be accurate, it's noted here as being "hoodoo" rather than its "V" cousin, but that's really nothing more than semantics for those looking to be scared.
Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly considering the sub-genre's track record in such matters, little of that occurs. The directly related material has little in the way of teeth -- and even includes one of those purposefully dated looking flashbacks that would be far more ridiculous than spooky if not for the subject matter of racial lynching.
As a result, Softley resorts to the tried and true haunted house technique of deploying copious amounts of "jump scenes" (where people turn and are startled by someone standing there, etc.) as well as plenty of moments occurring in said attic and its auxiliary and soon to be unlocked side-room. While the filmmaker has some fun with creative camera angles and such early on, he eventually seems to give up and we're left with just a conventional thriller with voodoo overtones.
Oh, I almost forget -- it also contains one of those big surprise endings that may have seemed like a good idea back whenever this film was originally green lit for production, but now lacks the power to shock due to overuse in other such flicks. Granted, it's slightly fun and certainly explains everything that preceded it, but some will figure it out before it arrives (I guessed part of it) while others may yawn in indifference, arguing that they've seen better.
Aside from Hudson who makes the film easier to watch than it would have otherwise been, the cast also features Gena Rowlands ("The Notebook," "Hope Floats") as the home's older and somewhat feisty matriarch, John Hurt ("Hellboy," "Captain Corelli's Mandolin") as her bedridden husband who's suffering badly from the effects of a stroke, and Peter Sarsgaard ("Garden State," "Shattered Glass") who appears in a role that initially seems too small but is obviously more than a cameo, all of which can only mean one thing. Or not.
Once everything's revealed, things become increasingly hokey and preposterous (and our dear heroine surprisingly overlooks an easy solution to her dilemma), nearly to the point of being goofy fun, but it never quite goes far enough for that. Taking its rightful place in a long line of mediocre voodoo flicks, "The Skeleton Key" fails to unlock the door to true horror or suspense, thus leaving the viewer unable to escape into just that. The film rates as a 4 out of 10.
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