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The Skeleton Key
''The Skeleton Key'' is a 2005 American Southern Gothic supernatural horror film directed by Iain Softley, written by Ehren Kruger, and starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. The narrative follows a New Orleans hospice nurse who begins a job at a Terrebonne Parish plantation home, and becomes entangled in a supernatural mystery involving the house, its former inhabitants, and Hoodoo rituals and spells that took place there. Plot Caroline Ellis, a hospice aide, quits her position at a nursing home and is hired as the caretaker of an isolated plantation house in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. The aging matron of the house, Violet Devereaux, needs help looking after her husband Benjamin, who was mostly paralyzed by an apparent stroke. At the insistence of the family's estate lawyer, Luke Marshall, Caroline accepts the position. After Ben attempts to escape his room during a storm, Caroline investigates the house's attic, where Violet sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iain Softley
Iain Declan Softley (born 28 October 1956) is an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Backbeat,'' ''Hackers, The Wings of the Dove'', ''K-PAX'', ''The Skeleton Key'', ''Inkheart'' and the BBC adaptation of Sadie Jones's novel ''The Outcast''. Career Softley was educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing, London, and Queens' College, Cambridge University, where he directed a number of highly-praised theatrical productions. He worked for Granada TV and the BBC in the 1980s before moving on to music videos and film. Softley's first film, the Stuart Sutcliffe biopic, ''Backbeat'', which he wrote and directed, was released in 1994. It opened the Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive a BAFTA Award nomination for Best British Film. For his work on the film, Softley received Best Newcomer Awards from The London Film Critics Circle and Empire Magazine. Following Backbeat, Softley directed the cyber thriller ''Hackers'', starring Angelina Jolie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nueva Orleans) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 according to the 2020 U.S. census, it is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, most populous city in Louisiana and the twelfth-most populous city in the southeastern United States. Serving as a List of ports in the United States, major port, New Orleans is considered an economic and commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast region of the United States. New Orleans is world-renowned for its Music of New Orleans, distinctive music, Louisiana Creole cuisine, Creole cuisine, New Orleans English, uniq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felicity Plantation
Felicity Plantation is a historic sugarcane plantation on the banks of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located along Louisiana Highway 18 in Vacherie, St. James Parish. Felicity is a sister plantation to St. Joseph Plantation, and was built around 1846 (or 1850) by Valcour Aime as a wedding gift to his daughter, Felicite Emma, and her spouse, Septime Fortier, who was also her cousin. Acquired by a bank in 1873, the plantation was purchased by Saturnine Waguespack in 1890, who merged it with the St. Joseph Plantation to form the St. Joseph Plantation and Manufacturing Company. The house still remains in the Waguespack family. Architecture The antebellum plantation house has elements of French Colonial and Anglo-American styles. It is characterized by its wide hallways and high-ceilinged rooms, while featuring a carved cypress balustrade. Several of the rooms contain red Italian marble mantlepieces. Six wooden pillars are large in size and square in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeryl Prescott
Jeryl Prescott Sales is an American actress, best known for her role as Jacqui in the AMC series '' The Walking Dead''. In 2019, she had series regular role of Madame Xanadu in the short-lived DC Universe series ''Swamp Thing''. Life and career Prescott was born in Washington, D.C., then adopted and raised in Hartsville, South Carolina. She is best known for her role as Jacqui in Season 1 of the television series '' The Walking Dead'', which premiered on AMC in 2010. Prescott, a resident of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, divides her time between that city and Los Angeles. Prescott was originally cast for just two episodes of the premiere season of ''The Walking Dead''. However, her character, Jacqui, was then written into the series cast of the season as well. Prescott reprises her role as Jacqui in the Season 3 episode " Hounded", as one of the voices that speaks to Rick on the phone. Later, Prescott recurred as Cherry in ''Ray Donovan'' on Showtime. Prescott also appeared as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Body Swap
A body swap (also named mind swap or soul swap or brain swap) is a storytelling device seen in a variety of science and supernatural fiction, in which two people (or beings) exchange minds and end up in each other's bodies. In media such as television and film, the device is an opportunity for two actors to temporarily play each other's characters, although in some cases, dialogue is dubbed by the original actors. Description There are different types of body swapping. For non-technology swapping, switches can be caused by magic items such as amulets, heartfelt wishes, or just strange quirks of the universe. The switches typically reverse after the subjects have expanded their world views, gained a new appreciation for each other's troubles by literally "walking in another's shoes" and/or caused sufficient amounts of farce. Notable examples include the books ''Vice Versa'' (1882) and ''Freaky Friday'' (1972), as well as the film versions of both. Switches accomplished by technol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9-1-1
, usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency numbers around the world, this number is intended for use in emergency circumstances only. Using it for any other purpose (such as making false or prank calls) is a crime in most jurisdictions. In over 98% of locations in Argentina, Panama, Belize, Anguilla, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jordan, Ethiopia, Liberia, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Uruguay, United States, Palau, Mexico, Tonga and Canada, dialing "9-1-1" from any telephone will link the caller to an emergency dispatch office—called a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) by the telecommunications industry—which can send emergency responders to the caller's location in an emergency. In approximately 96 percent of the United States, the enhanced 9-1-1 system automatically pairs caller ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nocebo
A nocebo effect is said to occur when negative expectations of the patient regarding a treatment cause the treatment to have a more negative effect than it otherwise would have. For example, when a patient anticipates a side effect of a medication, they can experience that effect even if the "medication" is actually an inert substance. The complementary concept, the ''placebo'' effect, is said to occur when positive expectations improve an outcome. The effect is also said to occur in someone who falls ill owing to the erroneous belief that they were exposed to a toxin, or to a physical phenomenon they believe is harmful, such as EM radiation. Both placebo and nocebo effects are presumably wikt:psychogenic, psychogenic, but they can induce measurable changes in the body. One article that reviewed 31 studies on nocebo effects reported a wide range of symptoms that could manifest as nocebo effects, including nausea, stomach pains, itching, bloating, depression, sleep problems, loss o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an extreme form of informal group social control, and it is often conducted with the display of a public spectacle (often in the form of a hanging) for maximum intimidation. Instances of lynchings and similar mob violence can be found in every society. In the United States, where the word for "lynching" likely originated, lynchings of African Americans became frequent in the South during the period after the Reconstruction era, especially during the nadir of American race relations. Etymology The origins of the word ''lynch'' are obscure, but it likely originated during the American Revolution. The verb comes from the phrase ''Lynch Law'', a term for a punishment without trial. Two Americans during this era are generally credited for coinin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslaved Africans who are from the United States. While some Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African-American, the majority of first generation immigrants do not, preferring to identify with their nation of origin. African Americans constitute the second largest racial group in the U.S. after White Americans, as well as the third largest ethnic group after Hispanic and Latino Americans. Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved people within the boundaries of the present United States. On average, African Americans are of West/ Central African with some European descent; some also have Native American and other ancestry. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, African immigrants generally do not se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraphernalia
Paraphernalia most commonly refers to a group of apparatus, equipment, or furnishing used for a particular activity. For example, an avid sports fan may cover their walls with football and/or basketball paraphernalia. Historical legal term In legal language, "paraphernalia" is a term of art from older family law. The word "paraphernalia" is plural, meaning "things beyond the dowry". Paraphernalia were the separate property of a married woman, such as clothing and jewellery "appropriate to her station", but excluding the assets that may have been included in her dowry. The term originated in Roman law, but ultimately comes from Greek (''parápherna''), "beyond (''para'') the dowry (''phernē'')". These sorts of property were considered the separate property of a married woman under coverture. A husband could not sell, appropriate, or convey good title to his wife's assets considered paraphernalia without her separate consent. They did not become a part of her husband's estat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeleton Key
A skeleton key (also known as a passkey) is a type of master Lock (security device), key in which the serrated edge has been removed in such a way that it can open numerous Lock and key, locks, most commonly the warded lock. The term derives from the fact that the key has been reduced to its essential parts. The term is also used synonymously with master key to refer to any key, keycard or other device capable of opening a variety of locks. Master keys A skeleton key is a key that has been filed or cut to create one that can be used to unlock a variety of warded locks each with a different configuration of wards. This can usually be done by removing most of the center of the key, allowing it to pass by the wards without interference, operating the lock. To counteract the illicit creation of such keys, locksmiths can put wards not just in the center but on the outside as well, making the creation of a skeleton key more difficult. Lever tumbler lock, Lever lock skeleton keys a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functioning properly. Signs and symptoms of a stroke may include an inability to move or feel on one side of the body, problems understanding or speaking, dizziness, or loss of vision to one side. Signs and symptoms often appear soon after the stroke has occurred. If symptoms last less than one or two hours, the stroke is a transient ischemic attack (TIA), also called a mini-stroke. A hemorrhagic stroke may also be associated with a severe headache. The symptoms of a stroke can be permanent. Long-term complications may include pneumonia and loss of bladder control. The main risk factor for stroke is high blood pressure. Other risk factors include high blood cholesterol, tobacco smoking, obesity, diabetes mellitus, a previous TIA, end-st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
