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104 MINUTES | BOSTON COMMON + FENWAY + FRESH POND + CIRCLE + SUBURBS Ehren Kruger, scripter of The Ring, wrote this predictable offering, which proves that all the Spanish moss in the South does not a successful thriller make. Hospice worker Caroline (Kate Hudson) moves into an old Louisiana mansion to care for its ailing owner (John Hurt). She’s given a skeleton key that unlocks every room, including an attic stocked with enough gris-gris to fill a voodoo museum and clues about ghosts, spells, and a lynching. Thunderstorms, flickering candles, and bumps in the night follow. Hudson’s scream queen is smarter than most but still meets the requirements — snooping where she shouldn’t, flashing a bit of breast in the obligatory shower scene, and looking frightened-yet-adorable throughout. Hurt is the star: as a wheelchair-bound mute, he uses his eyes to convey his fear of his wife (Gena Rowlands), who may be to blame for his condition. Like The Ring, Key has creepy images and ends with a twist, but directed by Iain Softley (K-PAX), it unlocks none of that film’s uncanny terror.
BY JESSICA CERRETANI
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