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Kate > Films

THE SKELETON KEY (2005)
It can open any door
You will believe
Fearing Is Believing

The Skeleton Key tells the story of Caroline, a live-in nurse hired to care for elderly woman Violet's husband Ben, who is apparantly suffering from the effects of a stroke. Violet and Ben live in a Gothic mansion in the backwoods of New Orleans, Louisiana. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple, their mysterious and secretive ways and their rambling house, Caroline explores the old mansion with a skeleton key that unlocks every door except one - a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret. Caroline begins to uncover the history of the house, and the local folk magic of hoodoo...

Kate plays Caroline Ellis

GENERAL INFORMATION
Directed by: Iain Softley
Written by: Ehren Kruger
Co-stars: Joy Bryant as Jill, John Hurt as Ben Devereaux, Gena Rowlands as Violet Devereaux, Peter Sarsgaard as Luke, Ronald McCall as Papa Justify, Jeryl Prescott Sales as Mama Cecile
Genre: Drama, Supernatural, Thriller, Mystery
Filming: 12th April 2004 - July/August 2004. Filming then went back into production til end of October. Filmed on location in Los Angeles and New Orleans, USA
Budget: $43m
Box Office: Made $1.4m/Ł769,968 on it's opening weekend in the UK, and $15.8 million in the US. Made $47,806,295 in the US and Ł2,299,650 in the UK.
Runtime: 104mins / 1hr 44mins
Released: UK- 29th July 2005; France- 3rd August 2005; Portugal- 11th August 2005; US, Denmark, Sweden- 12th August 2005; Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland- 18th August 2005; Italy- 9th September 2005; Brazil- 30th September 2005
Official site: US | UK | Fr. | Sp.
Script review: screenwriting.ugo.com (WARNING: spoilers)

MEDIA
Trailers: Trailer & International
Clips & Features: 'A Look Inside' | 3 Clips
Gallery: at KHH
Quotes: at KHH

full gallery...

KATE SAYS...
» "I read the script and it was very good, with a great ending, and it was a great character. I wasn't specifically looking to do something like this. Really, the ending was so great I thought, 'I've gotta do this'"
» "It's a genre film but there's a lot more to it than a standard horror. I really enjoyed watching, and thats weird because, with my movies, I'm usually running out the door going, 'I can't watch this anymore' I hate watching myself on screen."
» [on Conan O Brien] [C] "You haven't made really that kind of movie before. So many of your movies have a different tone." [K] "Yeah, they're happier." [C] "Right." [K] "And a... and funny." [C] "Right, right." [K] "And this isn't funny." [C] "Right." [K] "And it's not really that happy." [C] "Right, right. Right." [K] "But it was fun." [C] "Yeah." [K] "And it made me happy."
» "Making this movie was great, I've just had the baby, I was breast feeding and it was a lot more than I'd ever imagined, but it was fantastic."
» "This movie, I never have to smile. It's really nice. And that's been fun. And I've gotten to do a lot of stunts in this movie, which have been really fun for me. That's been my favorite part so far, all the stunts I've gotten to do. I haven't used a stunt double.”
» "You wouldn't catch me going into that attic like she does. I wouldn't even walk up the stairs to the attic. I believe in all those things, and I'm not cynical about it, and if I sense any sort of energy that might be negative in any way I just smile, turn and walk in the other direction."
» 'There was one camera that would never work. That would spook everyone out. Cameras just don't break, and there was just one that regularly wouldn't turn on."
» [on John Hurt] "For me, with John, I felt like I communicated with him on such an amazing level because what we were doing was all in our eyes. John didn't have any dialogue but he had to communicate what he was feeling with his eyes and I had to be able to listen. It's almost like an exercise in acting."
» "The house itself was crazy. I mean, I was pumping and breast-feeding and a lot of times I'd have to go into some weird room by myself. I'd sit there and go: 'This place is creepy, totally haunted, hands-down.' So it definitely added a certain eerie, spooky (mood)."
» [on her character] "She's strong minded and a little tough and I feel like she's the kind of girl who's okay being alone even though it might be a little lonely. She's okay with that and I'm like that."

REVIEWS
» HollywoodReporter.com: "Shedding her perkier side in favor of something darker and more interesting, Kate Hudson reaches a new level of maturity as Caroline Ellis."
» MovieFreak.com: "It has a delicately fragile and unsettlingly unbalanced central performance by Hudson (easily her best work since “Almost Famous”)"
» MTV.com: "It's mainly the skilled cast — including Peter Sarsgaard, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt and especially Kate Hudson, in an all-grown-up performance that suggests heartening new career possibilities — that keeps us strung along until the real dread starts drifting in."
» FilmFocus.co.uk: "Kate Hudson is unexpectedly subdued as Caroline, demonstrating none of the slightly manic kookiness that she normally trades in. It's a good performance and a well-judged one from an extremely talented actress who's too often taken safe roles that haven't pushed her into new territory."
» UrbanCineFile.com: "It's credit to an outstanding cast that makes the unbelievable plausible. Charismatic and totally credible, Hudson is superb as the pragmatic Caroline, intent to help Ben communicate."

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
Empire Awards [2006] - Best Horror (nominated)
Saturn Award [2006] - Best Horror Film (nominated)

TRIVIA
{1} Production for the film had to be delayed for a few months due to Kate's pregnancy.
{2} The definition of a 'skeleton key' - 'a passkey with much of the bit filed away so that it can open different locks'
{3} Kate had to lose her pregnancy weight before starting shooting this film.
{4} Continuity Error - When Caroline unpacks her things at the house, she sets a camera on a nightstand to the right of the bed. A few seconds later, the nightstand is shown without the camera.
{5} Continuity Error - When Ben is in the bathtub and Caroline gets soap in her eye, she drops the sponge into the water but the sponge is on the tray when she picks it up to begin washing Ben again.
{6} Continuity Error - When Caroline is giving Ben his second bath she soaks the sponge with soap and water. A second later when she goes to get the mirror her hand is completely dry.
{7} Revealing mistake - In the beginning of the movie Caroline is reading a story to a patient who dies. She tells a nurse that he just died but you still can see him breathing as his chest moves.
{8} Other Error - The license plate on Caroline's car says California instead of Louisiana.
{9} In the opening sequence, Caroline is reading "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson to her patient.
{10} What is hoodoo? While voodoo is a religion, hoodoo is more of a black magic (or folk magic) and features spells and conjures.

EXPLANATION/SPOILERS/FAQ highlight to read
What's this all about?! According to hoodoo beliefs you can pass your soul into another person and take the years they have left. This is what Justify and Cecile did to the little children. In the scene where the servants (Justify and Cecile) are in the attic with the children, they are transferring their souls into the children. Their bodies are then hanged, but their souls are in the children. They repeat this on Violet and Ben, and then Luke and Caroline.
Why no mirrors? Because Justify and Cecile (as Violet and Ben) would see themselves as old people, not the young people they want to remain.
full explanation

WORTH WATCHING FOR...
...a horror/supernatural film with a difference. There's no blood and guts - it's all psychological and it works well. The use of hoodoo is a new angle for supernatural thrillers, which is refreshing and interesting. Kate gives her smile a break in this film, turning in a dramatic and mature performance as the caring yet curious Caroline. This thriller is a welcomed development in her career. The twist at the end will give you a shock and ties the film up really well.

DISCUSS
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Buy It
DVD: US (Region 1) | UK (Region 2)
Video: US (NTSC) | ~~UK (PAL)~~

Promotional Events

"I don't believe!"

Last Updated: August 27th 2006

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