The Skeleton Key
Universal Pictures | Release Date: August 12, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
15
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
For anyone zombified by creaky thriller clichés, Skeleton is a fine little shot in the head. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
An elegantly mounted ghost story that's steeped plenty of dank Louisiana atmosphere. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Tightly plotted and suspenseful enough to keep you guessing until the satisfying, unexpected end, which is worth suspending disbelief for. After all, as they point out in the movie, "It doesn't work if you don't believe it." Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The appeal of The Skeleton Key lies not in its plot but in its attention to detail, and the way director Iain Softley (still on probation for "K-PAX," but nevertheless the guy who did "Backbeat") luxuriates in the deeply textured sights and sounds of Louisiana. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's far from strikingly original, but it's well-acted, skillfully plotted and moderately chilling, and it's something slightly different in the haunted-house genre. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Delivers its share of cheap scares but never unlocks the door to the creepiness that would have made this is memorable movie-going experience. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
One of those movies that explains too much while it is explaining too little, and leaves us with a surprise at the end that makes more sense the less we think about it. But the movie's mastery of technique makes up for a lot. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
For all its dark, Gothic intentions and supernatural twists, it lacks the emotional and intellectual punch of similarly themed films, most notably Alejandro Amenábar's "The Others." Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Director Iain Softley employs intriguing camera angles to heighten some of the suspense. It's too bad the movie goes over the top and falls apart in the last third. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
I didn't believe most of what I saw until the last 20 minutes, and whaddaya know? This thriller finally cast the spell it had been trying to achieve and lifted itself above the pack of late-summer, clean-out-the-studio-attic releases. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Stylishly spooky and featuring a hammy, cigarette-sucking performance from Gena Rowlands. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The soundtrack is guaranteed to send chills where they'll be most effective, and the ultimate resolution is a real shocker. While it doesn't explain away everything that's happened, it comes deliciously close. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
One of the most enjoyably inane movies of the season, this faux Southern Gothic offers an embarrassment of geek pleasures. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
No director yet has found the best use for Hudson, the role that will tap those terrifying and thrilling reserves that are just lying in wait. But Softley comes closer than anybody has. Read full review
50
VarietyRobert Koehler
Stirring up a humid Gothic mood and amassing a gifted roster of actors, The Skeleton Key is unable to ward off the nasty spirits of formula screenwriting. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Ultimately, the filmmakers build toward a reasonably satisfying "Twilight Zone" climax, only they crawl toward the ho-hum ending; the movie appears to have been written and edited in a swamp too. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The Skeleton Key takes its time making a slow, creeping ascent, but once it starts plummeting downward, Softley keeps things moving at a furious pace, and both Hudson and Rowlands enjoy surrendering themselves to the grandiloquent lunacy of it all. Read full review
50
Washington PostJen Chaney
It's all ultimately made watchable by the exceptional cast ... and a story that, despite some unsavory racial undertones, holds the audience's interest even when it veers toward the downright silly. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Neither scary nor thrilling, although it's reasonably entertaining despite an abundance of haunted-house clichés, the usual inexplicable scary-movie behavior and an almost-naked John Hurt. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The surprise ending is neatly done, but the characters are so thin that waiting around for it is no fun whatsoever. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Isn’t exactly dull, but it isn’t scary either. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
It has the wild, rancid atmosphere of a garbage bag that a raccoon has ripped open. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The only thing to do, then, is settle back and appreciate Hudson's no-nonsense performance, an appealingly mature turn that makes you hope she has turned her back on second-rate romantic fluff. (Whether second-rate horror represents actual improvement is another matter.) Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
After getting off to a decent, somewhat muted start, Skeleton Key just gets sillier and sillier and sillier until it's yet another one of those stupid, noisy thrillers where everyone's running around in a house, yelling and falling down, and you're mostly wondering why nobody bothered to call the cops. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
A fine, solid cast and fully exploited settings cannot make up for the by-the-numbers screenplay, which is filled with all-too-convenient plot points. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoanne Kaufman
A very goofy movie that makes sense only to the screenwriter and his next of kin.
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Hokey, slow-moving thriller. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
Strictly summer schlock. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Creaky in its mechanics and numbingly protracted, this is basement B horror that fancies itself a prestige chiller. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
A well-intentioned horror film that is weighted down by stellar cast members who for the most part act as if they don't want to be there. Read full review
20
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Wholly devoid of suspense or chills, The Skeleton Key simply bides its time until its big final plot twist, but the filmmakers don't seem to realize that a second-rate twist can't redeem a third-rate fright flick. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A top-notch cast was gathered and then wasted in this atmospheric but prosaic hoodoo spooker. Read full review
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