Review of The Skeleton Key (2005) by Ken P — 19 May 2018

Not sure why this movie got such a low rating, it's a great movie, has a great unique plot and, as much as I hate movies that market themselves on twists for twist sake, it has a very unexpected ending...dare I say, twist...that retroactively transforms the whole movie. It manages to maintain an eerie, suspenseful feeling without the use of gore or too many gotcha gimmicks...instead, that feeling is generated largely based on the story.

The earlier part of the movie moves a little slow and steady, but in my opinion, you have to be patient with some stories. Fast pacing does not equal good, slow pacing does not equal bad. In this case, the pacing is necessary and deliberate to allow the story to unfold in a believable manner. One case in point, without giving away too much, occurs about a third of the way through the movie when the lawyer and the hospice worker are talking in her bedroom. The conversation that occurs when Violet walks in seems extraneous, but after understanding the whole movie, the acting in this scene including every detail of body language and side remarks between the characters is perfect....even subtly and mildly comical in context, but appropriately so. This dynamic and several other moments may take a second viewing to fully appreciate but I'll leave it at that so as not to give away anything.

Aside from the deliberate pacing, I'd imagine that some highly negative reviews may be biased against the subject of the twist at the end including who "wins" and who doesn't. If you watch it, you'll know what I mean. I think even the few minutes after the climax added to the story by conveying how apparently normal the result of all this would play out with many surrounding characters being none the wiser with this episode just adding to a strange but otherwise seemingly normal history of the property....again all part of the story. Perhaps we've gotten to a point where too many people expect everything to be quick and concise but that doesn't always translate into fine story telling.

At any rate, this is a great movie with a unique story and which was well acted out...easily on par with other movies that get overall ratings of 75-95+%. Another movie "The Witch" had similar elements including story/concept-based suspense with limited gore or "gotcha" moments, deliberate -- some might say slow -- pacing, similar quality acting, and where the villain more or less wins in the end. It got a 93%. If you watch this movie, I'll take a bet and say you won't be terribly disappointed and possibly quite pleased, unless, well, you really don't like the nature of the twist.