Laura Linney plays a lawyer hired to defend a priest who’s accused of negligent homicide. “But why would a priest be accused of negligent homicide” you ask? “I thought priests stuck to playing with little boys a la Wacko Jacko” you say? Well, THIS priest got into hot water when the girl he was performing an exorcism on dies (I’ll give ya one guess who that is, and if you don’t get it…well, I don’t know what I’ll do to you but SOMEONE should do SOMETHING. Heck, I’ll even give you a hint, the name of the movie is The Exorcism of Emily Rose.)The first thing that comes to mind is that the story is told in a unique way. It’s presented through a series of flashbacks as the case is being made in court by friends and witnesses and such. I’ll warn you, this method can be frustrating at times because it never really lets you get too absorbed in the goings-on – kinda like when you were 15 years old and trying to make out with someone but someone else keeps bustin’ in on ya. In it’s defense though, just like how you kept tryin’ to smooch despite the headaches, the movie keeps you wanting more so you will stick around and you’ll like it!

Beyond that, it’s okay. It’s not great but it isn’t a waste either. The best scares were in the preview but they were still good. The biggest thing that I didn’t expect but will help you appreciate it more, is that it’s really not about the story. It’s about telling the story. That may not make much sense to you now but you’ll get it when you see it – which is worth doing.

At first I was only about half into The Skeleton Key. A big part of me wanted to see it because I’m such whore for horror movies but the rest of me just wouldn’t warm up to it. Plus, I really don’t like Kate Hudson. She’s easy on the eyes - I’ll give you ya that – but frankly, she kinda bothers me. I can’t really say why, just that she does. Anyway, when Sheri, Jeremy, and Charli all wanted to see it the other night, the anti-Kate Hudson part of me was out-voted 3½ to uhh, ½.Caroline (Kate Hudson) plays a hospice worker that gets hired by Violet to care for her bed-ridden husband Ben who can barely move or speak. It isn’t long before Caroline begins to piece together the creepy history of the Louisiana plantation and what really caused Ben’s stroke. Hoodoo hijinks ensue. No, not voodoo – HOOdoo!

Well, I have to admit I was impressed. It does need to be said that there were times, as with any horror movie, when things were a little predictable (like when Caroline woke up in the middle of the night and began to pussyfoot around the mansion to investigate a noise) but when all was said and done, me likey. The story was different. The twist I kept hearin’ about did not disappoint. Campy-ness was kept to a minimum. Even Kate Hudson proved to be tolerable. The only thing that ALMOST ruined it for me was the ending which disappointed me at first but, after further consideration, I’ve come to feel that it’s the best ending for the story and it shouldn’t be any other way.

“Don’t know how you do the hoodoo that you do so well it’s a spell, hell, makes me wanna shoop shoop shoop. Shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doop ba-doop ba-doop…”

Oh I crack myself up.