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Movie Overview
Cast
Kate Hudson
Gena Rowlands
John Hurt
Director
Iain Softley
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - violence, disturbing images, some partial nudity, and thematic material
The Skeleton Key (2005)
REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
(1 - 39) of 39
OFCS Rating: 43% Rotten
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"A creepy, atmospheric and lushly filmed supernatural thriller"
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Betty Jo Tucker
6/10
"For a widescreen studio creeper,
Skeleton Key
may not be
The Others
, but it at least invites comparison. "
Freeze Dried Movies
Brian Juergens
B
"In a rare moment for the genre, it does get better as it rolls along, and that’s good enough for me."
FilmJerk.com
Brian Orndorf
B
"Full props for story and acting, even if the slow pace and predictable racial profiling of this thriller half-mires it into the Louisiana swamps it celebrates."
EDGE Boston
David Foucher
.5/4
"Interminable from minute one..."
Reel Film Reviews
David Nusair
"The wide, unmoving forehead of Kate Hudson floats with torporific ennui through this clip show of all the slowest, most boring bits from every spook movie you've ever seen."
Portland Tribune
Dawn Taylor
C
"It's all a lot of hoodoo."
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
2/4
"Has its merits, mostly of the visual & aural variety, but thrill-seekers looking for a reason to keep the lights on at bedtime are bound to feel more than a little gypped."
TheMovieBoy.com
Dustin Putman
1.5/4
"In the tradition of
Angel Heart
, it looks to stir cultural anxiety by introducing a pretty white thing into a sinister world where "black" magic reigns supreme."
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez
B-
"If the movie doesn't exactly compliment your intelligence, at least it doesn't insult it, either."
EricDSnider.com
Eric D. Snider
2/4
"Nothing in the South can rise again without being overcome by hundreds of years of homespun logic and Ehren Kruger clichés."
eFilmCritic.com
Erik Childress
B+
"There's a refreshing cleanliness and sparseness to the storytelling here -- no digressions into drawn-out horror set pieces, no gratuitous displays of violence and gore."
Film Blather
Eugene Novikov
2/4
"...a callow and creepy country-fried caper that engages in cheap-minded scare tactics...about as exciting as sipping mint julep on a scorching August afternoon"
Movie Eye
Frank Ochieng
D
"Utter hooey...more likely to leave you shaking with laughter than with fright."
One Guy's Opinion
Frank Swietek
2.5/4
"
The Skeleton Key
delivers its share of cheap scares but never unlocks the door to the creepiness that would have made this is memorable movie-going experience."
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
'2/4'
"Southern-fried mumbo-jumbo has its gothic moments but the abysmal finale is unforgivable."
Palo Alto Weekly
Jeanne Aufmuth
"The script is clever and witty enough to get by, and the cute blonde heroine is smart and resourceful enough that the script never seems sexist."
Pajiba
Jeremy C. Fox
"Dumbo Gumbo"
Light Views
John Larsen
3/10
"Armed with an idiotic lead, a rambling unfocused story, and an ending transparent enough to make the audience laugh out loud at the screen."
Planet Sick-Boy
Jon Popick
2.5/4
"Es predecible y soporífera, llena de clichés y lugares comunes, sin lograr crear nunca la atmósfera adecuada para que el espectador logre una conexión emocional"
Moviola
Jorge Avila Andrade
3.0/4.0
"... this isn’t a horror film, but its black heart is in the right place..."
MovieCrypt.com
Kevin A. Ranson
3.5/5
"While it has its jumpy moments, it’s really more of a suspense movie and mystery than a horror film."
7M Pictures
Kevin Carr
C+
"...while not actually scary, features terrific Southern Gothic production design, credible acting and a fairly effective twist ending"
Reeling Reviews
Laura Clifford
2/5
"Somewhere past the one-hour mark, it's hard not to start rooting for the bad juju."
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Maitland McDonagh
B-
"
The Skeleton Key
conjures a spooky atmosphere steeped in the mystique of folk magic and medicine and suspicion of the deep South."
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Mark Pfeiffer
"[T]here’s some remarkable psychological insight in this scary little movie. Which isn’t to say that it isn’t all utter nonsense, either..."
Flick Filosopher
MaryAnn Johanson
3/4
"Here’s a B-movie that
knows
it’s a B-movie, yet is intent on being a really good B-movie. And it is."
Aisle Seat
Mike McGranaghan
C
"A blundering New Orleans-set thriller under the spell of archaic stereotypes about Southern Bayou blacks."
Lessons of Darkness
Nick Schager
3/5
"O que me leva a recomendar esta produção é seu desfecho – uma conclusão que respeita a lógica interna da trama."
Cinema em Cena
Pablo Villaca
2.5/5
"
The Skeleton Key
isn’t exactly dull...but it isn’t scary either."
Film Threat
Pete Vonder Haar
3/5
"A preposterously enjoyable Southern gothic thriller."
Shadows on the Wall
Rich Cline
2/5
"The voodoo lore is sketchy (it can't hurt unbelievers, except when it can), the plot obviously little but build-up to the big reveal."
eFilmCritic.com
Rob Gonsalves
2.5/5
"a parade of phony horror clichés meant to generate predictably cheap scares"
Filmcritic.com
Sean O'Connell
6/10
"Spooky yet shallow, finding bizarre, brooding tension in what's behind that ominous, forbidding door - to scare you on a hot summer's night."
Modamag.com
Susan Granger
1/4
"Screenwriter Ehren Kruger's latest illiterate piece of crap."
Film Freak Central
Walter Chaw
3/5
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Q Network Film Desk
James Kendrick
2.5/4
Read review
Big Picture Big Sound
Joe Lozito
Read review
PopMatters
Cynthia Fuchs
Read review
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
(1 - 39) of 39
OFCS Rating: 43% Rotten
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