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'The Skeleton Key' leaves you malnourished for thrills and chills
by Eric Robinette

The only thing "The Skeleton Key" unlocks is the door to disappointment. This tedious movie is the latest and least of an increasing string of relatively bloodless PG-13 horror flicks, which have been called "horror lite." This one's light on horror, all right. I jumped exactly once. The rest of the time I slumped in my seat, waiting for something interesting to happen, but never getting it. Read the full review

TO SUM UP
Caroline is a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman's ailing husband in their home, a foreboding and decrepit mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple and their rambling house, Caroline beings to explore the mansion using a skeleton key that unlocks every door — and leads to a terrifying secret.

FILM FACTS ...

Universal Pictures

'The Skeleton Key'

Director: Iain Softley
Starring: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, John Hurt, Joy Bryant
Run time: 104 minutes
Release date: August 12, 2005
Rating: PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, some partial nudity and thematic material.
See showtimes

On the web
Official movie site
View the trailer
Trailers require Quicktime

READ THE REVIEW

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: D
"Softley's attempts to slowly build a sense of Gothic doom come off as hackneyed — with the obligatory blues tunes, crackling thunderstorms and off-kilter camera angles that frame all sorts of Deep South exotica, from gnarly, mossy oaks to nasty, fleshy things floating in jars."