10/22/17 – day twenty-two of thirty-one days of horror!
The aughts were a shaky time for mainstream American horror –
things were either torture-porny with your Saws and your Hostels, or they were
Asian ghost movie remakes, or they were found footage – rare was the Hollywood
horror movie that went in an unexpected direction, which is why I have always
appreciated Iain Softley’s 2005 supernatural thriller The Skeleton Key. Kate
Hudson stars as a hospice nurse assigned to help (the great) Gena Rowlands deal
with her dying husband (John Hurt) in their creepy Louisiana plantation home,
only to find herself tangled in a mystery related to the house’s dark past. What
starts off seeming like a voodoo-infused ghost story goes into some genuinely
surprising direction, with the game cast (also featuring Peter Sarsgaard in a
satisfyingly slimy role) and well-realized southern gothic atmosphere really
selling the chills. Thanks to the Sixth Sense all supernatural thrillers
released during this time were required to have a big twist ending, and while
The Skeleton Key definitely falls into that category, the twist here is
actually pretty great and hard to see coming. My wife is a big fan of this
movie and it’s one of her favorite movies to relax with at home – what can I
say, we’re weirdos. This Halloween, the Skeleton Key is your key to Cajun-style
terror!
