Horror Movie Review: KEY (2011)

A dull and uneventful film that promises way more than it delivers, KEY comes from director Robert Hamilton, who co-wrote the story with A.J. Hordijk. It stars Nathan Sapsford as Martin Revell, a pathologist who makes a surprising discovery during a routine autopsy on a suicide victim.

He finds a key in his stomach. An unusual looking key that sends him down a dark path to find what it opens.

It’s a solid setup that creates enough mystery and intrigue to keep you watching, until you realise that the film’s horror aspects only come from this setup. What does the key open and why does everyone seem to be obsessed with it? Don’t expect answers because the film has none.

Instead, the majority of the film is focused on Martin and his depressing life. His wife died a few years ago so now he likes a drink or two and has no problem being a bit of an asshole. Note to writers – making your leads unlikable is not a good idea.

He meets Claire Shoe, played by Jessica Nicole Webb, who happens to be the suicide victim’s daughter. Of course, she is as obsessed with the key as Martin is, resulting in quite a volatile relationship. As unlikable as Martian is, he is way more bearable than Claire is at least.

Yet, I could get by with bad characters if the story was at interesting at least, but it’s not. Especially as scene after scene starts to feel tacked on, nothing connects, things contradict, and go nowhere. At one stage I started to wonder if the whole point of the film was that the key was nothing and we, just like the characters, were obsessing over it, but then I realised that was dumb and if true, very insulting. The reality is it’s just really bad writing that features really bad characters.

When I say the film goes nowhere, this is not hyperbole. I love an ambiguous ending, but only if the story gives me enough to want to form my own opinions afterwards. The only opinion I have on KEY is that it’s mind-numbingly dull and awkwardly bad. There is a reason why films like this are completely forgotten about.