This chiller in centred on hospice assistant Caroline Ellis; she has become somewhat disenchanted with the place she works to replies to an advert for a live-in carer at an old plantation house deep in the bayous. When she gets there she meets Violet Devereaux and her husband Benjamin; he has suffered a stroke and can't care for himself
it will be Caroline's job to look after him for his remaining days. Shortly after arriving she is given a skeleton key that opens every door in the house. She finds a door in the attic that it won't open; Mrs Devereaux explains that the room hasn't been entered since she and her husband moved in several decades ago. Caroline manages to get into the room and discovers various spells, potions and other hoodoo paraphernalia. It turns out the room originally belonged to Mama Cecile and Papa Justify; two servants who had been lynched ninety years before. She investigates further and starts to believe that Mrs Devereaux is responsible for what happened to her husband and that she too is in real danger.
If you want gore, a high body count and plenty of jump-scares this won't be the film for you; however if you want a decent atmospheric chiller that is creepy rather than scary then this film may be worth checking out. The setting adds to the films atmosphere; the sort of Deep South location where one can easily believe unpleasant things happened in the bad old days. Kate Hudson does a solid enough job as Caroline and Gena Rowlands manages to be suitably creepy while being a charming southern lady as Violet. John Hurt is impressive as Benjamin; a character who barely says a word but conveys a lot of emotion with every look. The story progresses at a decent pace and there are a few twists the ending isn't a total surprise though certainly anybody who has seen 'The Wicker Man' is likely to figure out that being the protagonist doesn't guarantee Caroline's ultimate safety. Overall though I thought this was an effective and atmospheric chiller.
If you want gore, a high body count and plenty of jump-scares this won't be the film for you; however if you want a decent atmospheric chiller that is creepy rather than scary then this film may be worth checking out. The setting adds to the films atmosphere; the sort of Deep South location where one can easily believe unpleasant things happened in the bad old days. Kate Hudson does a solid enough job as Caroline and Gena Rowlands manages to be suitably creepy while being a charming southern lady as Violet. John Hurt is impressive as Benjamin; a character who barely says a word but conveys a lot of emotion with every look. The story progresses at a decent pace and there are a few twists the ending isn't a total surprise though certainly anybody who has seen 'The Wicker Man' is likely to figure out that being the protagonist doesn't guarantee Caroline's ultimate safety. Overall though I thought this was an effective and atmospheric chiller.