In the formidable tradition of
psychological horror films, where fear and terror emerge largely from
the dark side of the characters and their placement in an odd setting, Session
9 is an intriguing and memorable achievement. We need not go much
further than the title to get an eerie anticipation about a story set in
an abandoned insane asylum. From the moment the five members of the
asbestos clean-up crew set foot in the dark, beastly, and deteriorating
Danvers Mental Hospital, we are trapped in the sense of dread and doom,
but we are also helplessly hooked in figuring out, along with our
heroes, just what explanation for ghastly murders and mutilations might
be revealed in the end.
Director Brad Anderson, best known for Next
Stop in Wonderland, handles the challenge of making an old style
horror movie by setting up five unique characters who get lost in a
scary place as much as in the uncharted territory of their own minds.
Each of them has a weakness, and we are pulled into their strange ordeal
as we are made to wonder who will be the first to lose his mind.
Gordon Fleming (Peter Mullan), the owner
of Hazmat Elimination Co is a down-to-earth business man with a wife and
a new baby. He seems deeply troubled, though, and is so desperate to win
the bid that he promises to complete the project in only one week, even
though his partner and crew chief Phil (David Caruso) estimates a
minimum of two weeks. Phil, a practical task master, has a problem with
Hank (Josh Lucas) and is constantly trying to get him off the job. Mike
(Stephen Gevendon) is really supposed to be in law-school, and although
he enjoys manual labor, he is distracted by the nine session tapes of a
female patient suffering from multiple personality disorder. The
youngest in the crew, Jeff (Brendan Sexton III), is not only
inexperienced but also gets anxiety attacks in the dark.
Solid performance are delivered by the
five actors, especially Peter Mullan. Of course, the movie succeeds in
great part because of the setting. Built in 1860’s near Boston, the
sprawling Danvers Mental Hospital captured the imagination of Brad
Anderson while he lived in the area. His first hand account of the
location and its unfathomable dimensions of creepiness translate
masterfully to the screen through evocative cinematography. We see and
fear the dark, underground tunnels, the shock therapy rooms, the cage
wire separations intended to keep patients separate from staff and
visitors. The deeper the characters are taken into the bowels of this
place, the wider become the fractures in their own psyches.
The suspense is cleverly built through
editing, by sudden fade outs when crucial action elements are expected,
however, the story’s main flaw is in its momentum. Contradictory to
the premise of a record-breaking one-week project, the crew is slacking
off at every turn. They seem to be spending more time arguing, having
leisurely lunches, where their dialog sets up action, and roaming the
hospital than removing asbestos. Still, the horror wins out as the
images replay themselves in our minds long after the screen goes blank.
We can’t help thinking back and putting together all the clues, just
as we can’t help hoping that what we’ve seen won’t stay with us
too long.
Official website:
Succeeds in capturing the eerie setting of the hospital with numerous
photos and first person character accounts.
