jemicool Kate hudson killed it as the lead role. Every actor added some flavor to the film overall.Movie has original story, great plot and mind boggling twist. The twist like "Shutter Island" where you understand whole movie at last point at once. We seen this movie with whole family and left speechless for a moment due to the unusual twist.One of my All time favorite.

Prichards12345 Hmmm, the frequently asked questions on IMDb state that this film isn't based on a book, but is an original screenplay. That may be so, but the central story idea is certainly not original. I've read the first few pages of reviews on here but no one appears to have twigged that this is actually based on H.P. Lovecraft's The Thing on The Doorstep. Heavily disguised, of course!Major plot spoiler here. Lovecraft's 1933 tale concerns body-transference, in which an aged sorcerer, masquerading in the body of his daughter, marries a weak-willed but useful poet and steals his body. Sound familiar? Well it does if you have seen this movie!Actually Lovecraft himself may have got the idea from Berkeley Square, so it's no major steal from the master of the macabre; mostly this is a well-realised and watchable horror movie, which goes over the top in the thriller stakes a little too much towards the end. The house itself featured in the movie looks a little like the old plantation set in the 40s Universal Horror movies. I wonder if this is so and if it still survives? I liked the cast; Kate Hudson and Gena Rowlands are especially good; and the late John Hurt does extremely well as a stroke victim desperately trying to convey to Hudson's nurse that something is deeply wrong. Voodoo hasn't been used for a while in major horror films, so it's nice to see an atmospheric movie in this vein.If only it was quieter in its conclusion: the action gets a bit silly, to be honest. Overall, though, I quite enjoyed it. Just next time give credit to HPL, huh?

morrison-dylan-fan With October coming up,I started looking round for a Horror movie that I could pick up for a friend to view.Talking to a family friend,I got told about a tense sounding voodoo film,which led to me getting ready to unlock the skeleton.The plot:Disguised by the disinterested attitude that her fellow care workers are showing to patients, caregiver Caroline Ellis decides to move to New Orleans after seeing an ad in the paper for a care person being wanted.Meeting Violet Devereaux at the family plantation house,Ellis is told that she is to help Violet look after her husband Ben,who has suffered a serious stroke.As Ellis settles into the job,Violet gives Ellis a "skeleton key",which will allow her to open every door in the house.Looking round the house,Ellis finds a photo of the past owners with their slaves.Getting asked to get an item from the attic,Ellis goes up and is shocked to find a locked door shaking in the corner of the room.Putting the key in the lock,Ellis discovers that despite what Violet has said,that the key does not unlock the door. Continuing to hear the door shake,Ellis starts to investigate the secret past of the house.View on the film:Filmed on a real plantation house,director Iain Softley & cinematographer Daniel Mindel uncover every haunted corner of the building with elegant crane shots,which along with setting out the entire location,also creates an eerie atmosphere of something unsettled lurking in the house.Along with the gliding shots of the house,Softley also stabs sudden shots of black & white footage into the title,which gradually reveal the frantic voodoo chants that Ellis has crossed into.Treating voodoo (and Hoodoo) in a respectful manner,the screenplay by Ehren Kruger takes advantage of Ellis outsider Statius,by piling all of the mythical tales and hidden secrets of the house on Ellis shoulders,which leads to Ellis struggling to pick up on Violet's menace laying just under the surface.Giving Ben just a handful of words,Kruger smartly makes Ben's non-verbal signs of unease be the driving force to Ellis uncovering the secret of the house,which leads to Ellis unlocking a deliciously dark, macabre twist ending.Made just 3 months after she had her first child,Kate Hudson (who looks rather alluring in a topless scene) gives an excellent performance as Ellis,with Hudson always keeping Ellis belief in care at the centre of the character,whilst also displaying clear signs of nervous excitement over the voodoo and hoodoo culture that she has entered.Joining Hudson,Gena Rowlands gives a wonderfully tense,brittle performance as Violet Devereaux,whose sly smile hides horrifying secrets,whilst John Hurt superbly shows silent fear as Ben,as Ellis opens the door with a voodoo skeleton key.

Python Hyena Skeleton Key (2005): Dir: Iain Softley / Cast: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, Joy Bryant: Disastrous horror film about revealing deadly secrets and it makes absolutely no bloody sense. The only revealing deadly secret one can muster is that the screenwriter hasn't an original idea to pen to paper. Premise is rushed so to get Kate Hudson into the house quickly and scare the sh*t out of her. She is a nurse who accepts a job at a mansion with a horrid past. There are several rooms but she is given a skeleton key to gain passageway but she is most curious about the attic. Iain Softley previously made The Wings of the Dove and despite his talent this is hardly an advancement. He is backed more so by production than a decent screenwriter. Kate Hudson is a fine actress who does her best as a woman seeking out answers to the seemingly haunted but unfortunately she cannot avoid a lame concluding plot turn. Gena Rowlands delivers one of the worst performances of her career. She plays a home owner with a psychotic side and it is a joke. John Hurt spends the entire film looking horrid and constipated as Hudson's care subject. Then there is Peter Sarsgaard in an obvious role that is no less stupid. For a superior film then perhaps Rosemary's Baby would be suitable and more intelligent counter to this. This film should be locked away and never seen again. Score: 3 ½ / 10