The Skeleton Key is a 2005 horror-suspense film released in the UK on 22 July and in the USA on August 12. It is set in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana and has a cast led by Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, and John Hurt in an original screenplay by Ehren Kruger, directed by Iain Softley.

The script was actually just an outline with no dialogue. All dialogue was improvised by the actors during filming.

This film was based on two prior films of the same title by John Johnson. One was a short, and one a feature length.

A young woman helping care for an invalid in New Orleans finds herself caught in the middle of morbid going-ons centered around a group of Hoodoo (Not Voodoo, it's different. Hoodoo is an old African American magic that only works if you believe in it.) practitioners. Written by Jojo Mac

Caroline (Kate Hudson) is a twenty-five-year-old hospice worker who cares for the ailing and the elderly, a job designed to atone for her own mistake for ignoring her dying father in the past, when she had been a rock 'n' roll manager. After her latest charge passes away, Caroline takes a job in Louisiana, caring for Ben (John Hurt), a stroke-victim who is bed-ridden and cannot speak. But Caroline becomes suspicious of the house, and Ben's cold wife, Violet (Gena Rowlands) only adds to the creepy atmosphere. After acquiring a skeleton key, Caroline makes her way into a secret room within the attic where she discovers hair, blood, bones, spells, and other instruments for practicing hoodoo. Violet says she has never been in the secret room, but that the items probably belonged to the original owners' two houseworkers, who practiced black magic and were lynched as a result. Noting that Ben had his stroke in the attic after entering the room, Caroline is determined to unlock the secrets of the house, and rescue Ben from the horrors that hold him captive within. Written by Tickleberry

The Skeleton Key is about a 25-year old girl (Kate Hudson) who gets a job as a caretaker living in a plantation home in Terrebone Parish, Louisiana. She soon discovers the scary attic in the house, with all sorts of hoodoo recipes, spells, books, etc. She starts to investigate and question Violet (Gena Rowlands), the owner of the house, about the secrets. But if she believes in what she discovers, it will all become real! Written by Peyton

The nurse Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson) decides to quit her job in a hospital and work for a family in the swamps of Terrebone Parish, Louisiana, one hour far from New Orleans. The family lawyer Luke (Peter Sarsgaard) hires her for US$ 1,000.00 per week to take care of Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), the beloved husband of Violet Devereaux (Gena Howlands), who had a stroke and is totally paralyzed. Violet gives a skeleton key of the huge house to Caroline, and the curious young woman finds a secret creepy hoodoo room in a scary attic that belonged to a couple of sorcerers that worked in the house. Caroline, who does not believe in magic, decides to learn about hoodoo, and believes Violet put an evil spell on Ben. She decides to help the invalid man, and asks for help to Luke. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil