Review – The Skeleton Key

The big star of this movie – at least from my perspective – was the atmosphere. I like all that steamy summer bayou stuff. It’s a terrific setting for a horror movie, especially a thriller that uses voodoo as a theme. But like just about every other voodoo movie ever made, this thing falls into the usual racist patterns of assuming that every black person in the universe is intimately acquainted with haints and spells. Even the beautiful, blonde protagonist’s urban black roommate has an aunt who goes to the conjure-woman. Further, the plot was a little too easy to stay ahead of. Beyond the clichés, however, this was an entertaining production. The art direction and audio (I especially liked the creepy old record of the voodoo ceremony) did at least part of what the script and acting couldn’t get done. Mildly amusing