The Skeleton Key (2005)

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PG-13 | 1 hr 44 mins | Thriller, Supernatural | Released: 8/12/2005 |Box Office Total: $47.8M

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Synopsis:

Strong-minded Caroline Ellis is a driven young woman with no time for local tales of witchcraft and black magic. The young hospice worker is determined to make enough money to attend nursing school, even if it means taking a job as a live-in caretaker for the elderly owner of an isolated plantation house an hour's drive outside of New Orleans, deep in the atmospheric Louisiana delta renowned for the locals' mystical practices and powerful ceremonies. The decrepit Terrebonne Parish mansion is home to born-and-bred Southerners Violet and Ben Devereaux and both the house and its occupants seem weighted with somber histories. But for Caroline, the setting is unimportant--she's there to do her job, caring for Ben after a stroke has left him nearly paralyzed and mute. To make maneuvering throughout the large home an easier task, Violet entrusts the new live-in with a skeleton key that unlocks every door--including one that Caroline discovers obscured by a bookcase at the back of the house's attic. Seemingly forgotten, the room holds an intriguing mix of antiques, mirrors oddly banished from the rooms below and artifacts apparently connected to the practice of a strange kind of magic--a folk magic that conflicts directly with Caroline's common sense and pragmatic way of thinking. And yet, small instances of the unexplainable begin to occur. The mansion--and the strange couple who inhabit it--are rife with secrets. The more Caroline explores, the deeper she is drawn into a darkening mystery in the attic room at the very heart of the house--towards a terrifying and sinister legacy that threatens to take vengeance on anyone who comes to believe in its power. As Caroline begins to question her own convictions, she comes ever closer to opening the door and crossing the threshold to where simple belief becomes deadly reality.

Full Cast & Crew

Theatrical Release
8/12/2005

Studio	Credit
Universal	Studio
Director	Credit
Iain Softley	Director
Cast	Credit
Kate Hudson	Caroline Ellis
Gena Rowlands	Violet
John Hurt	Ben
Peter Sarsgaard	Luke
Joy Bryant	Jill
Maxine Barnett	Mama Cynthia
Fahnlohnee R Harris	Hallie
Marion Zinser	Bayou Woman
Deneen D Tyler	Desk Nurse
Ann Dalrymple	C.N.A.
Trula Marcus	Nurse Trula
Tonya Staten	Nurse Audrey
Thomas Uskali	Robertson Thorpe
Jen Apgar	Madeleine Thorpe
Forrest Landis	Martin Thorpe
Jamie Lee Redmon	Grace Thorpe
Ronald McCall	Papa Justify
Jeryl Prescott Sales	Mama Cecile
Isaach DeBankole	Creole Gas Station Owner
Christa Thorne	Creole Mother
Lakrishi Kindred	Frail Customer
Lawrence Harvey	Bar Man
Mark Krasnoff	Pickup Driver
Sabah	Luke's Secretary
Susannah Thorarinsson	Waitress in Bar
Bill H McKenzie	Mr. Talcott
Joe Chrest	Paramedic
David Curtis	Party Guest
Tiffany Helland	Party Guest
Bryan Ruppert	Party Guest
Philip Frazier	Rebirth Brass Band
Derek Shezbie	- Rebirth Brass Band
Glen Andrews	Rebirth Brass Band
Stafford Agee	Rebirth Brass Band
Keith Frazier	Rebirth Brass Band
Derrick Tabb	Rebirth Brass Band
Shamar Allen	Rebirth Brass Band
Byron Bernard	Rebirth Brass Band
Herbert Stevens	Rebirth Brass Band
George Harper	Jazz Band
Howard McCary	Jazz Band
Kevin O'Neal	Jazz Band
Ryan Porter	Jazz Band
Rudy Regalado	Jazz Band
Nolan Shaheed	Jazz Band
Dustin Fleetwood	3rd Nfantry Band Member
Roderick Harrison	3rd Nfantry Band Member
Torrey McKinley	3rd Nfantry Band Member
Production Credits	Credit
Clayton Townsend	Executive Producer
Daniel Bobker	Producer
Stacey Sher	Producer
Michael Shamberg	Producer
Iain Softley	Producer
Production Companies	Credit
Daniel Bobker Films	Production Company
Double Feature Films	Production Company
ShadowCatcher Entertainment	Production Company
Distribution Companies	Credit
Universal Music and Video Distribution	Video Distributor Video Distributor
Universal Pictures Distribution	Domestic Theatrical Distributor
United International Pictures (UIP)	Foreign Theatrical Distributor
Locations
New Orleans, LA, USA
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Writer	Credit
Ehren Kruger	Screenplay
Accounting	Credit
Andrew Jablonski	Accountant - Payroll Accountant
Gregory D Hemstreet	Production Accountant
Martin Elfalan	Assistant Accountant
Lisa Jean Felski	Post-Production Accountant
Theodore M Davila	Assistant Accountant
Jennifer Lobban	Assistant Accountant
Rudy Coblentz	Assistant Accountant
Greg Turnbull	Assistant Accountant - Accounting Clerk
Art Department	Credit
John H Maxwell	Set Dresser - On Set Dresser
Paul J Stanwyck	Scenic Artist - Lead Scenic
John Beard	Production Designer
Julia Levine	Set Designer
Fred Arbegast	Sculptor
Liz Chiz	Art Department - Buyer
Jason Bedig	Leadman
Ron Baratie	Greensman - Greens Foreman
Drew Boughton	Art Director
Richard Buden	Storyboard Artist
Richard Buden	Illustrator
Fontaine Beauchamp Hebb	Set Decorator
Stephanie Frey	Art Department Coordinator
Andy Flores	Painter - Standby Painter
Jann Engel	Assistant Art Director
Michael Cutler	Set Dresser - On Set Dresser
Jennifer Ho	Art Department - Buyer
Mick Cukurs	Set Designer
Brett Tyler	Painter - Painter Gangboss
Molly Mikula	Assistant Art Director (New Orleans)
Robert E Loring	Greensman - Greens Foreman
Suttirat Larlarb	Art Director (New Orleans)
Chere Theriot	Art Department Coordinator (New Orleans)
Dale E Anderson	Set Dresser
Michael J Flynn	Greensman - Greens Gangboss
Rod Garvin	Painter - Painter Gangboss
Scott M Anderson	Set Dresser
David Tureau	Greensman - Greens Gangboss
Michael L Smith	Painter - Painter Gangboss
Rick Broderman	Painter - Paint Foreman (New Orleans)
Larry Haney	Set Dresser
Robert Brooke Sartorius	Set Dresser
Randy Severino	Set Dresser
Chandler Vinar	Set Dresser
Mark Hannibal	Set Dresser (New Orleans)
John Sanchez	Set Dresser (New Orleans)
Casting	Credit
Eliza Ladensohn	Casting Assistant
Courtney Sheinin	Casting Associate
Lisa Mae Wells Fincannon	Location Casting
Caitlin McKenna	Voice Casting - ADR Voice Casting
Deedra Ricketts	Extras Casting
Ronna Kress	Casting
Craig Fincannon	Location Casting
Tim Hammond	Extras Casting
Elizabeth Coulon	Extras Casting
Tracy Dixon	Extras Casting
Choreography	Credit
Miranda Garrison	Choreographer
Craft Services	Credit
Mario Rolando Gonzalez	Catering - Caterer
Chris Winn	Craft Service
William S Turchyn II	Craft Service
Nancy James	Craft Service (New Orleans)
Film Camera	Credit
Phil Pastuhov	Aerial Director of Photography (2nd Unit)
Merrick Morton	Photography - Still Photographer
Daniel Mindel	Director of Photography
Trent Johnson	Colorist - Digital Film Colorist
Mitch Dubin	Camera Operator
Dave Deever	Video - Video Engineer
John T Connor	Assistant Camera
Colin Anderson	Steadicam Operator
Anthony Harris	Color Timer
Brandon Cox	Loader - Camera Loader
Colin Anderson	Camera Operator
Michael Trim	Director of Photography (2nd Unit)
Gregor Tavenner	Assistant Camera
John Skotchdopole	Camera Operator (2nd Unit)
Serge Nofield	Assistant Camera
Josh Bleibtreu	Director of Photography (2nd Unit)
Mariana Sanchez de Antunano	Assistant Camera
Michael A Fauntleroy	Assistant Camera (2nd Unit)
Lisa Lengyel	Assistant Camera (2nd Unit)
Mark Figueroa	Assistant Camera (2nd Unit)
Scott Wolfe	Assistant Camera (2nd Unit)
Music	Credit
Rebirth Brass Band	Song Performer
Edward Shearmur	Music
Chris Fogel	Score Mixing
Chris Fogel	Music Producer
Chris Fogel	Score Recording
Robert Elhai	Orchestrations
Sandy DeCrescent	Music Contractor
Daryl Kell	Music Editor
Fred McDowell	Music Arranger
Bruce Barns	Music Performer - Conjure Musician
Sara Lord	Music Supervisor
Keith Frazier	Song
Christopher Elly	Score Mixing - Mix Assistant
Alfred Roberts	Music Performer - Conjure Musician
Johnny Farmer	Song Performer
Philip Frazier	Song
Jeff Toyne	Orchestrations - Additional Orchestration
Alan Lomax	Music Arranger
Tim Lauber	Score Recording - Fox Recording Crew
James Burt	Music Editor
Bryan Carrigan	Music - Digital Recordist
Eluard Burt II	Music Performer - Conjure Musician