Iain Softley

Skeleton Key / the Grudge Iain Softley

Includes the horror films SKELETON KEY (2005) and THE GRUDGE (2003).
In SKELETON KEY, New Orleans hospice worker Caroline answers a help wanted ad and she finds herself working as the live-in caretaker of Ben Devereaux, a stroke victim who has lost his ability to speak. Ben's wife Violet presents Caroline with a skeleton key to open any door in the house with the exception of one, which she claims she has never been able to open. But curiosity gets the best of her, and Caroline opens the door to find a wealth of materials representing the old house's history of hoodoo, an ancient form of folk magic. She soon discovers that the house harbours a dark secret one that Violet knows more about than she first admits. A remake of the Japanese horror hit JU-ON (widely considered to be one of the scariest movies ever made), THE GRUDGE is helmed by its original director Takeshi Shimizu. Like its predecessor, this Hollywood version of the film takes place in Tokyo, but most of the main characters are American, including Karen and her peers. When Karen enters a seemingly abandoned home to look after a mentally disturbed resident, she soon discovers that there's an evil - and very aggressive - presence in the house, and it's lashing out at every person that sets foot inside.