ALTHOUGH Skeleton Key won't have you cowering on the sofa over any particularly scary or horrific scenes, it will keep you fascinated.

Caroline (Kate Hudson) takes a job caring for an elderly man who finds it hard to cope after has had a severe stroke, is paralysed and unable to speak.

The couple live in a rambling plantation house in America's deep south and even on her first visit, Caroline knows the home houses more than its fair share of dark secrets.

Caroline discovers that more than 100 years before, the then owners of the house, a cruel banker and his wife, held a party and invited all their revoltingly rich friends.

The couple's two young children disappear and the partygoers embark on a drunken mission to find them.

They are discovered in the attic with the couple's black servants, Mama Cecile and Papa Justify, heavily involved in the practice of Hoodoo - vaguely akin to Voodoo but which doesn't involve religion and apparently only works when people believe in it.

The partygoers hang the servants and set fire to them. From that moment forth, nothing goes right on the plantation.

This is a fascinating film exploring the myths and beliefs shared by many in America's deep south.

There is also an abundance of extra features on plantation life, the practice of Hoodoo and the making of the film.

HC