The Skeleton Key
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| The Skeleton Key | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Poster |
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| Directed by | Iain Softley |
| Produced by | Iain Softley Daniel Bobker Michael Shamberg Stacey Sher |
| Written by | Ehren Kruger |
| Starring | Kate Hudson Gena Rowlands Peter Sarsgaard John Hurt Joy Bryant |
| Music by | Ed Shearmur |
| Cinematography | Dan Mindel |
| Editing by | Joe Hutshing |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  July 29, 2005 August 12, 2005 |
| Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Skeleton Key is a 2005 horror-suspense film released in the UK on 22 July and in the USA on August 12. It is set in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana and has a cast led by Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, and John Hurt in an original screenplay by Ehren Kruger, directed by Iain Softley.
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[edit] Plot
Caroline (played by Kate Hudson) is a New Orleans hospital aide from Hoboken, New Jersey, who, after her latest patient dies, quits her "medibusiness" job and takes a position as a private hospice caregiver at an isolated plantation house deep in the bayous of southern Louisiana. The lady of the house, Violet (played by Gena Rowlands) is a diffident woman who requires help to care for her husband Ben (played by John Hurt), who suffered a serious stroke which has left him paralyzed and speechless, with about a month left to live.
Violet gives Caroline a skeleton key to open every room within the large mansion, except for a small room hidden in the attic, which is where Ben had his stroke. This does not stop Caroline from eventually getting into that room, after something inside apparently rattles the door, and uncovering bizarre items including jars of pickled organs, magical objects, and a fullsize voodoo doll. Violet says to Caroline that the room belonged to two black servants who had lived in the house in the 1920s, Mama Cecile (Jeryl Prescott) and her husband, Papa Justify (Ron McCall) under a cruel employer who had them lynched in the presence of their children for practicing hoodoo. Caroline dismisses this as superstition, but the longer she stays in the house, more and more strange events occur, piquing her curiosity about the obscure (to her) swamp religions and their relationship to the physical condition of Ben, whom she has become determined to save and restore to health.
[edit] The Twist
Caroline, after realizing that Violet is working harmful spells on Ben, seeks the help of the young lawyer Luke (played by Peter Sarsgaard) hired to rewrite Violet and Ben's wills. While in Luke's house, Caroline discovers clues leading to the revelation that Luke is in fact assisting Violet. Just as Caroline is about to act, Luke captures her and takes her back to the manor.
Caroline is held captive, but manages to get free and "rig" (roughly, enchant) the house with brick dust, which is said to keep away those who mean one harm. After accidentally breaking Violet's legs, Caroline delves further into hoodoo and learns to form a protective circle around herself. Violet comes into the ritual room, and explains that "they" have been waiting for her to believe. Caroline tries to deny the fact that she now believes in hoodoo, but cannot convince herself.
Violet pushes a mirror at Caroline, which contains the image of Mama Cecile. The mirror smashes into Caroline, knocking her unconscious. In the morning, Caroline wakes up and walks over to Violet, who is barely awake. She takes Violet's cigarettes, and begins to smoke, while she utters the words "Thank you, child," revealing to the audience that the soul of Mama Cecile is now inside Caroline's body. The mirror acted as a catalyst, and it transferred Mama Cecile's soul into Caroline's body, while placing Caroline's soul in Violet's body. Luke walks in, and it is revealed that he too is not who he claims to be. His body is possessed by the soul of Papa Justify. Ben, who was previously the host to Papa Justify's soul, is revealed to be the real Luke.
Mama Cecile (in Caroline's body) gives Caroline (in Violet's body) a liquid which causes a pseudo stroke. This prevents her from talking, so that she can't reveal the presences of Mama Cecile and Papa Justify. The film ends with the revelation that "Ben" and "Violet" left the house to "Caroline", thus leaving the house to themselves.
By examining the flashbacks and listening carefully to the dialogue, one may infer that Mama Cecile and Papa Justify transferred their souls into their employer’s children on the fateful night of their lynching, placing the children's souls in their own bodies. Thus, their employer actually killed his own son and daughter. In 1962 the pair again used hoodoo to transfer their souls to Ben and Violet, leaving the real Ben and Violet to die in the bodies of the Twins. Once Ben and Violet became too old, they performed their ritual once more on Luke and Caroline. Thus, Mama Cecile and Papa Justify have occupied the house in various forms since the 1920s.
[edit] The setting in reality
The movie was filmed at the historic Felicity Plantation, actually located on the Mississippi River in Saint James Parish, Louisiana, not the coastal, swampy, Terrebonne Parish. At the end of the movie the aerial shot of the house and its grounds was actually done with CGI technology. In that shot, the house and the grove of trees surrounding it are real, but the swamp that seems to be on the verge of engulfing the house is not really there. Behind the house actually lie hundreds of acres of fields. In reality the house is not really run down; it was decorated with ivy, among other things, to set the tone.
[edit] Notes
The 78 RPM record "the conjure of sacrifice", that played a key role in the film, was actually remixed by DJ Steve Lawler into an electro song. Bits and pieces of the incantation can be heard in the song.
