※ Download: The skeleton key movie
Although he uses a wheelchair, one evening during the nightly monsoon she finds him missing from his room. Violet, having caught up with her, reveals she actually trapped herself inside a protective circle. Besides, a movie that goes to this much trouble to work out its cosmology must have the answers.
At the insistence of the family's estate lawyer, Luke Marshall, Caroline accepts the position. Caroline surmises that Ben's stroke was induced by Hoodoo, but believes that his paralytic state is a induced by his own belief, rather than something supernatural. Caroline discovers that Violet is unable to pass a line of brick dust laid across one of the house's doorways, confirming her suspicions.
- As she continues to investigate, she realizes that Violet is keeping a sinister secret about the cause of Ben's illness.
Besides, a movie that goes to this much trouble to work out its cosmology must have the answers. I must have missed something. The film depends upon atmosphere, shock and superstition; the logic of the plot is the last thing on our minds. It takes place in a creepy plantation house in a gloomy Louisiana backwater during a very, very rainy season. The district has something in common with every other horror movie set in the deep South: A ramshackle backroads gas station operated by degenerates who frighten and repel their customers. In the real world, motorists get their gas at shiny 24-hour travel plazas, many of them incorporating Taco Bells and sales on the latest cassettes by. Not in horror movies, where the Chainsaw Family lurks in the shadows behind the cash register and cackles unwholesomely about newcomers. Advertisement The visitor in this case is Caroline , a nurse who grows despondent when a beloved patient dies, and quits her hospital job and signs on as private care giver. She meets a lawyer named Luke , and he sends her on to his client, an old lady named Violet. But he sure can look like he really wants to tell Caroline something. The big house has rooms Ben and Violet have never used. Caroline is given a skeleton key that opens all of them, except, wouldn't you know, a door in the attic. This door rattles loudly, as if someone is locked inside; the Self-Rattling Door is a variation on the Snicker-Snack Rule, which teaches us that in horror movies a knife will all by itself make a sound like it is being scraped on metal, even when it isn't. The opening scenes of the movie promise a degree of intelligent menace that few movies could live up to, including this one. But it works while it's happening. But then again, who would? And what's to understand? Old Ben, meanwhile, grabs Caroline's wrist in a deathly grip, and really, really has something on his mind. Although he uses a wheelchair, one evening during the nightly monsoon she finds him missing from his room. He has crawled out of his window and onto the porch, and falls to the ground, for reasons that seem clearer at the time than they do later. Carolina becomes convinced that Violet is a threat to Ben, and tries to help him escape, ramming her VW into the big old iron gates, which are mysteriously locked. Advertisement Underlying all of these alarms is a local practice known as Hoodoo, not to be confused with voodoo. But the movie's mastery of technique makes up for a lot. Kate Hudson is convincing as the young nurse determined to help her patient, Gena Rowlands is awesome in the Joan Crawford role, and John Hurt, who says not a word, semaphores whole dictionaries with his eyes. There's a kind of moviegoer who likes a movie like this no matter how it ends. It's just that -- well, what did a lot of the other stuff have to do with anything? How do all the omens and portents and unexplained happenings connect? And what's the deal with Hoodoo? It doesn't work unless you really believe in it, we're told, but if you really do, it really does. Considering what happens when you do, I think it's better if you don't. Besides, I believe things either work or don't work whether or not you think they can. Especially things that God don't have much to do with. The Ebert Club is our hand-picked selection of content for Ebert fans. You will receive a weekly newsletter full of movie-related tidbits, articles, trailers, even the occasional streamable movie. Club members also get access to our members-only section on RogerEbert.
But it works while it's happening. Caroline discovers that Violet is unable to pass a line of brick dust laid across one of the house's doorways, confirming her suspicions. Caroline surmises that Ben's stroke was induced by Hoodoo, but believes that his paralytic state is a induced by his own belief, rather than something supernatural. The runtime of The Skeleton Key is 104 minutes 01 the skeleton key movie 44 minutes. Caroline discovers that Violet is unable to pass a line of brick dust laid across one of the house's doorways, confirming her suspicions. Luke revealed to be Papa Justify arrives upstairs, and it is revealed that Mama Cecile and Papa Justify have been conducting the Conjure of Sacrifice on new people since their supposed lynching. The main movie genre categories for The Skeleton Key are: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller. When Caroline Ellis Hudson takes a job in Louisiana's bayous, she unlocks a deadly secret involving magic, conjure and sacrifice that pulls her into a terrifying world of strange, frightening and unexplained incidents. Review aggregator reports that 38% of 149 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5. As she continues to investigate, she realizes that Violet is keeping a sinister secret about the cause of Ben's illness. Caroline discovers that Violet is unable to pass a line of brick dust laid across one of the house's doorways, confirming her suspicions. the skeleton key movie
