Hoodoo? Who Cares?
THE SKELETON KEY

RATING: C-

Starring: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, Joy Bryant and John Hurt. Music by Edward Shearmur, Costume Designer Louise Frogley, Edited by Joe Hutshing, Production Designer John Beard, Director of Photography Dan Mindel, Executive Producer Clayton Townsend, Produced by Daniel Bobker, Iain Softley, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Written by Ehren Kruger, Directed by Iain Softley.

Rated PG-13, Running Time 103 mins., 2.39 to 1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.

Another month, another horror flick. Man, Hollywood's obsession with horror films just doesn't seem to end. I guess it's due to the fact that so many teenagers rush out to see these things and willingly fork over hundreds of millions of dollars. For a change, this month's "The Skeleton Key" isn't based on another Japanese horror film, but it does manage to take decent actors and basically give them nothing to do. Since this is a horror film (or as they'd put it, a "psychological thriller) Kate Hudson can't smile and make wide eyed faces throughout this movie, but is actually expected to act. That's no easy feat since basically her whole career has been an attempt to emulate her famous mother, Goldie Hawn, who early on cut her teeth on "psychological thrillers" like Spielberg's first picture "The Sugarland Express." Does Hudson pull it off? Well...How hard can it be to play "Nancy Drew" and then run around screaming?

Hudson stars as a "N'Awlins" hospice worker (by way of New Jersey) who answers an ad in the paper to care for paralyzed stroke victim John Hurt. Hurt lives with his mysterious wife Gena Rowlands in a large estate on the bijou and although she's uncomfortable with Hudson's naive presence, she desperately needs someone to care for her husband during his final days. Of course it doesn't take long for someone like Hudson to go snooping around in a stranger's house and she eventually uncovers an attic room full of antiques, hidden mirrors, hoodoo masks and a phonograph record with a ritual spell recording. As she probes deeper and deeper and gets nosier and nosier, Hudson uncovers an evil plot involving murder, hoodoo and an annoying black and white flashback featuring the estate's black servants practicing black magic. I guess you can see where this one is going.

Audiences, (and I'm referring to the gullible ones) may actually find "The Skeleton Key" refreshing because they've been fed so much crap in the horror genre that they'll welcome something mediocre. The film tries scaring the old fashion way, with quick editing, loud sound effects and those moments where a character turns to discover someone's right behind them. That stuff's great and only works once in any movie, but they need a story for back-up. The film is devoid of any digital effects tricks and that's a welcome change, but instead we're plunged in an unrealistic atmosphere. Anyone from Louisiana will be offended by individuals that live on plantations near marshes filled with alligators and have phony accents that sound like characters from "The Waterboy." At least they don't act ignorant, but they sure do stupid things.

Hudson manages to stick her nose where it doesn't belong and demands answers from Rowlands about the history of her own house. Her initial skepticism about black magic leads to belief as she's soon sprinkling red dust on the floors in an attempt to magically block out those that mean her harm. Rowlands, who can make good use of any material no matter how mediocre, puts on an unconvincing Southern accent but the aggression behind her eyes is enough to make Hudson wish she took formal acting lessons. Peter Sarsgaard appears as the family lawyer who hires Hudson and is soon called upon as an ally, but he's been more fortunate in lesser movies and is barely used here as is Joy Bryant as Hudson's best friend.

Of course Hudson will completely ignore Bryant’s warnings, even when she recommends her hoodoo practicing aunt for advice. If an intelligent black woman like Bryant were cast as the lead the movie would be only five minutes long because like the attendants before Hudson, she would have enough sense to know when to get out of that house. Only John Hurt manages to find some dignity in a non-physical, non-verbal performance that relies solely on the powerful use of his eyes as a cry for help. The producers must have been so grateful to him that they offered his vocal talents to serve as the narrator of the film's trailer.

Director Iain Softley has worked wonders with drama before like his adaptation of Henry James's "The Wings of the Dove" so I'm surprised that his lead actors appear as if they've been held back. What this film needs is the energy of his first two films "Hackers" and "Backbeat." Softly doesn't make as large as misstep as he did with his last film "K-Pax", but his feet are not firmly planted and although over-rated Hollywood horror wunderkind Ehren Krueger's script is scrawny, a real director would have fleshed the material out and made the characters more human and identifiable.

It's almost as if the forces behind this film knew they had a mediocre picture and decided to base their ad campaign around a surprise or twist ending. If you want to sit through a third-rate feature to get to a second rate twist that's you're prerogative, but if you're looking for some type of "Sixth Sense" pay-off, you'll be sorely disappointed. Any one who paid attention to the trailer or is familiar with the films "Angel Heart" or "Fallen" will easily be able to tell the direction this film is headed. As for Hudson, well, she wants her mama's career so bad she can taste it. I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of her playing cutesy and clueless characters. Her mom Goldie often played clueless, but you enjoyed her innocence and individuality. Here we're subjected to a performance with a character whose problems would come to halt if she just quit her job.