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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
OFCS Rating: 44% Rotten
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2/5
"The only real mystery ... is what is this great ensemble cast doing in such a poorly executed movie?"  Eye for Film  Amber Wilkinson

"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

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."  DustinPutman.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

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
Read review  Q Network Film Desk  James Kendrick

2.5/4
Read review  Big Picture Big Sound  Joe Lozito

Read review  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs

Read review  Cinema Crazed  Felix Vasquez Jr.
OFCS Rating: 44% Rotten
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