THE SKELETON KEY

When the little voice inside your head tells you that something is wrong, it's always a good idea to listen. Also, don't mess around with hoodoo.

I'm a member of the small minority who thinks Kate Hudson is way overrated, but as Caroline Ellis, she veers away from her Mini-Goldie routine, and offers up a character who is gutsy, thoughtful, and way too inquisitive. Searching for more satisfying work as a hospice caregiver, Caroline quits her job at an impersonal nursing home. She answers an ad for a home caregiver, and heads out to the swamplands of Louisiana to look after a man who has suffered a debilitating stroke.

Upon arrival, she meets the Devereaux's smooth-talking estate lawyer, Luke (Peter Saarsgard). He's not much older than Caroline and he's kind of cute, so she thinks she may have found someone she can relate to in this no-man's-land. Mrs. Devereaux (Gena Rowlands) sure isn't very friendly, and the patient, Mr. Devereaux (John Hurt), can't even speak. Mrs. Devereaux keeps mumbling that Caroline won't understand the house, and it sounds like something creepy is going on. She keeps a close eye on her husband, who is frantic to get away, and something is wrong with the attic—the same place where he had his stroke.

Not one to be deterred, Caroline tries to figure out what's going on. She's worried about Mr. Devereaux, and wants to know what all the secrecy is about. Why are there no mirrors in the house? What's in the closet in the attic? What the heck happened to him up there, anyway?

Caroline's curiosity leads her to pick open the lock to the creepy closet, where she finds all sorts of weird pictures, spells, potions, and voodoo paraphernalia. Combined with Mrs. Devereaux's shifty behavior and Mr. Devereaux's escape attempts, the crap in the attic would send most girls running for the door. But Caroline is not most girls. She probes and investigates until the bitter end, ignoring her own fears in the belief that she can make things better for her unfortunate patient.

All I can say is that God gave us fear for a reason. When the little voice inside your head tells you that something is wrong, it's always a good idea to listen. Also, don't mess around with hoodoo. Caroline's fate is shocking and frustrating, but it comes as part of a satisfying series of plot twists. I have to give props to Ehren Kruger for daring to write an ending we don't see coming. That's a refreshing thing to see these days.