With October coming up,I started looking round for a Horror movie that I could pick up for a friend to view.Talking to a family friend,I got told about a tense sounding voodoo film,which led to me getting ready to unlock the skeleton.
The plot:
Disguised by the disinterested attitude that her fellow care workers are showing to patients, caregiver Caroline Ellis decides to move to New Orleans after seeing an ad in the paper for a care person being wanted.Meeting Violet Devereaux at the family plantation house,Ellis is told that she is to help Violet look after her husband Ben,who has suffered a serious stroke.
As Ellis settles into the job,Violet gives Ellis a "skeleton key",which will allow her to open every door in the house.Looking round the house,Ellis finds a photo of the past owners with their slaves.Getting asked to get an item from the attic,Ellis goes up and is shocked to find a locked door shaking in the corner of the room.Putting the key in the lock,Ellis discovers that despite what Violet has said,that the key does not unlock the door. Continuing to hear the door shake,Ellis starts to investigate the secret past of the house.
View on the film:
Filmed on a real plantation house,director Iain Softley & cinematographer Daniel Mindel uncover every haunted corner of the building with elegant crane shots,which along with setting out the entire location,also creates an eerie atmosphere of something unsettled lurking in the house.Along with the gliding shots of the house,Softley also stabs sudden shots of black & white footage into the title,which gradually reveal the frantic voodoo chants that Ellis has crossed into.
Treating voodoo (and Hoodoo) in a respectful manner,the screenplay by Ehren Kruger takes advantage of Ellis outsider Statius,by piling all of the mythical tales and hidden secrets of the house on Ellis shoulders,which leads to Ellis struggling to pick up on Violet's menace laying just under the surface.Giving Ben just a handful of words,Kruger smartly makes Ben's non-verbal signs of unease be the driving force to Ellis uncovering the secret of the house,which leads to Ellis unlocking a deliciously dark, macabre twist ending.
Made just 3 months after she had her first child,Kate Hudson (who looks rather alluring in a topless scene) gives an excellent performance as Ellis,with Hudson always keeping Ellis belief in care at the centre of the character,whilst also displaying clear signs of nervous excitement over the voodoo and hoodoo culture that she has entered.Joining Hudson,Gena Rowlands gives a wonderfully tense,brittle performance as Violet Devereaux,whose sly smile hides horrifying secrets,whilst John Hurt superbly shows silent fear as Ben,as Ellis opens the door with a voodoo skeleton key.
The plot:
Disguised by the disinterested attitude that her fellow care workers are showing to patients, caregiver Caroline Ellis decides to move to New Orleans after seeing an ad in the paper for a care person being wanted.Meeting Violet Devereaux at the family plantation house,Ellis is told that she is to help Violet look after her husband Ben,who has suffered a serious stroke.
As Ellis settles into the job,Violet gives Ellis a "skeleton key",which will allow her to open every door in the house.Looking round the house,Ellis finds a photo of the past owners with their slaves.Getting asked to get an item from the attic,Ellis goes up and is shocked to find a locked door shaking in the corner of the room.Putting the key in the lock,Ellis discovers that despite what Violet has said,that the key does not unlock the door. Continuing to hear the door shake,Ellis starts to investigate the secret past of the house.
View on the film:
Filmed on a real plantation house,director Iain Softley & cinematographer Daniel Mindel uncover every haunted corner of the building with elegant crane shots,which along with setting out the entire location,also creates an eerie atmosphere of something unsettled lurking in the house.Along with the gliding shots of the house,Softley also stabs sudden shots of black & white footage into the title,which gradually reveal the frantic voodoo chants that Ellis has crossed into.
Treating voodoo (and Hoodoo) in a respectful manner,the screenplay by Ehren Kruger takes advantage of Ellis outsider Statius,by piling all of the mythical tales and hidden secrets of the house on Ellis shoulders,which leads to Ellis struggling to pick up on Violet's menace laying just under the surface.Giving Ben just a handful of words,Kruger smartly makes Ben's non-verbal signs of unease be the driving force to Ellis uncovering the secret of the house,which leads to Ellis unlocking a deliciously dark, macabre twist ending.
Made just 3 months after she had her first child,Kate Hudson (who looks rather alluring in a topless scene) gives an excellent performance as Ellis,with Hudson always keeping Ellis belief in care at the centre of the character,whilst also displaying clear signs of nervous excitement over the voodoo and hoodoo culture that she has entered.Joining Hudson,Gena Rowlands gives a wonderfully tense,brittle performance as Violet Devereaux,whose sly smile hides horrifying secrets,whilst John Hurt superbly shows silent fear as Ben,as Ellis opens the door with a voodoo skeleton key.