Session 9

Value and price

insane plot twist!

Session 9 is basically a haunted place story and the weakest person gets haunted by the spirits that dwell in. The Haunting (1963) has the same concept and so does The Shinning (1980). House on a Haunted Hill (1959) is another example. What is unique about Session 9 is that it takes place in a truly eerie place: an abandoned mental hospital. The movie was really shot on location and it was really an abandoned mental hospital (now luxury condos). Interior of the building was exactly the way you see it. There was really asbestos inside the building. Despite its low budget, Session 9 successfully combines the right elements of horror into a concoction that gives you the creeps. The sound design and the soundtrack are very effective. The story is edited in an unusual way. It is also a kind of "who dunnit?" story but the way it is edited is quite unique (not surprising if you've seen the director Brad Anderson's other movie, The Machinist). In a typical who dunnit story, a murder takes place or murders take place and you try to figure out who's done it and the perpetrator is revealed at the end after all the murders are done. Session 9 is edited in such a way that the revelation and the murders happen almost spontaneously. You have to watch the movie to know what I mean.Blu ray transfer is very clean and high quality. Audio options are 2.0 original or 5.1 DTS. Special Features: NEW Return to Danvers: The Secrets of Session 9 Featuring Interviews with Brad Anderson, and the Cast (this is a very nice documentary chronicling the experiences of the cast and the crew), New Horror's Hallowed Grounds, Audio Commentary with director Brad Anderson, Deleted Scenes/Alternate Ending. Story-to-Screen Featurette, The Haunted Palace Featurette, Theatrical Trailer.In summary, I say Session 9 is a pretty decent effort for a horror movie and its atmosphere, eerie locations, editing, soundtrack deliver the goods.

So what do I really think of Session 9? My review title isn’t entirely honest just as “Session 9” isn’t entirely honest. Perhaps my inner contrarian feels betrayed by all the glowing reviews here at amazon . I thought this would be a truly disturbing horror film. It turns out it was practically neither. “Session 9” is pretty much just a psychological drama with a violent ending, just as “Silence of the Lamb” and “Se7en” are not really horror films. Unlike those two films, “Session 9” wasn’t nearly as scary, violent, disturbing, well acted, or made. That said; this film is not a major Hollywood production and I tend to give low budget films a break. However, “Session 9” failed in ways many low budget films do not. Let’s clear the dust on this.-STORY, STORY, STORYOne aspect of film making that does not require a big budget is creative story telling. “Session 9” has a fairly disconnected story with facets that generate mood but don’t really move the story along. In fact, the titular “sessions” (Clinical recordings of a murderer with multiple personalities) are pretty much unnecessary to the films ultimate ending though they are probably the scariest part of the film. The basic premise around which the story revolves is a small crew of asbestos removal technicians who are assigned the task of cleaning up the hazardous material from a large facility in a ridiculously short amount of time. The guys spend a lot of time cleaning, joking, eating lunch, arguing, and wasting time snooping around. Strangely, the boss says they’re making great progress (really?). The story does have twist and turns (not particularly challenging ones) and a key figure that comes from nowhere. Yet, I eventually gave up guessing who would turn the story towards mayhem since there were only a couple of options. The red “hairing” was not particularly effective since the prime suspect quickly became obvious.-DON’T BREATHE THE ATMOSPHEREAs you may have already read, this film takes place in Danvers Mental Hospital in Massachusetts; the true star of this film. The best parts of the story are the moments of historical recollection concerning this building. The true goings-on at Danvers were horrific and disturbing especially since they are true. The building, tight schedule, life threatening hazardous material, and friction among the crew all create a foreboding atmosphere. This may well be the most effective part of the film. Unfortunately it’s not enough to satisfy my need for a more challenging story.-DEFINE HORRORSo what constitutes a horror film? Like “Se7en” and “Silence of the Lamb”, “Session 9” could be labeled a psychological thriller or drama. I’m not going to argue what it is, but little happens in the first hour of the film to warrant the “Horror” tag. I guess a film of this nature becomes horror when some audacious gore or violence occurs. There is a sense of dread that hangs over the film due to the interpersonal tensions and the hazards of the job. However, the violence comes way too late to ratchet up the requisite suspense or thrills I personally look forward to in horror films. That said I have to view this as a low budget psychological drama with a violent end. That doesn’t make this an inherently bad film; it just means I think marketing this film as a horror film is a bit disingenuous.-SAY SOMETHING SORT OF NICEA lot of people liked this film. So I feel compelled to acknowledge the things this film did right. Though many elements of the story were superfluous to the plot, the plot was actually pretty compelling. I might have enjoyed this more as a short film (40 minutes or less). As it is, I found the film to feel so padded with distractions and un-needed details that the plot became diluted.The Acting was mostly well executed. After Danvers, Peter Mullen and David Caruso were the clear human stars of this film. They did a good job of developing the air of uneasy doubt that dominates this film. I really can't stand David Caruso, but he did a reasonable job as a slightly suspicious foremen. The other actors did nothing to harm this film, were often entertaining, and served well as eventual victims.The overall production values of this film were, at worst, adequate. Considering that nearly the entire film was shot on the grounds of Danvers the creepy feel of the film was a given. The cinematography was effective though usually unremarkable at telling the story and keeping the dark mood.-WHAT’S THE FINAL CALL?I have issues with “Session 9” being hyped as a terrifying horror film when it’s more of a slow paced psychological drama. It’s not a bad psychological drama, but I’ve seen better. There are acts of grotesque violence and brutal killings (of which very little is seen). Unfortunately most of these obscured acts happen in the last 15 minutes of the film. The film has an uneasy atmosphere and lots of tension to go along with the meager violence. Yet the execution of the plot is overlong and full of distractions that do little to move it along and prove to be nothing more than interesting distractions. Rental is probably the way to go if you’re curious. If you don’t expect a terrifying horror film, you just might enjoy it.-Story…........2.5 Stars-Plot……......4 Stars-Horror…..…2 Stars-Acting…......3.5 Stars-Hype factor..2 StarsAverage…….2.8 Stars