Category Archives: Voodoo Films

THE SKELETON KEY-United States/Germany-2005

Kate Hudson as Caroline Ellis

Gena Rowlands (l) as Violet Devereaux

Peter Sarsgaard as Luke Marshall

Joy Bryant as Jill

John Hurt as Ben Devereaux

Directed by Iain Softley

Written by Ehren Kruger

It took me a month or more to finally watch this movie. I prepared the page and then went on to other projects, other films. I think the reason was because I’d heard a lot of bad things about the film and I was a little influenced by it all. Then I realized how stupid of me it all was and I was able to sit down and watch the movie. Well, you know what? I liked The Skeleton Key. I didn’t love it, mind you, but I found it to be an entertaining and well-acted entry in the genre of the voodoo film. I found Kate Hudson to be not only beautiful but also believable in her role as a hospice nurse hired to care for a stroke victim in an old mansion deep in the swamps of Louisiana. This being called The Skeleton Key there is a sure bet there’s a more going on in that house than strokes. Pretty soon our darling Kate finds herself wrapped up in secrets, betrayal, ghosts and voodoo hoodoo. Gena Rowlands is fantastic as the old matriarch of the house. I’m not saying that Hudson is a great actress, but I felt as if her scenes with Rowlands were a passing of the torch of sorts. My two biggest complaints about the film came from the fact that if you paid attention you can see the ending coming from a mile away. The other was in the horrible Louisiana accent that Peter Sarsgaard adopts in his role as the family lawyer. Besides all that I found The Skeleton Key to be a neat little thriller of a film.

TRIVIA

The swamp behind the Devereaux house was created with CGI effects. The actual house used in the film, Felicity Plantation, is situated inland in St. James Parish and is surrounded by farmland. The fictional Devereaux house was situated in Terrebonne Parish, which is coastal and swampy.

At the opening of the film, the book that Caroline is reading to the hospice patient is Robert Louis Stevenson‘s “Treasure Island.” Toward the beginning of that work, Jim Hawkins is caring for the elderly Billy Bones after the man has a stroke. Caroline begins her ordeal in the same way: taking care of the elderly Ben Devereaux post-stroke.

The Felicity Plantation in St. James Parish, Louisiana, was used as the Devereaux house.

½

Related articles

• Kate Hudson On Her Simplified Beauty Routine, Style Icons And More (stylelist.com)
• Spooky Skull Mini-Tools – The Triple Aught Design Skeleton Key is Frighteningly Fancy (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)
• Vintage Skeleton Key Wall Art (uglyducklingtransformations.wordpress.com)
• Behind the Twinkle – Voodoo Earrings (glamourtwinkles.com)