Session 9 - psychological madness
Session 9 is a psychological thriller directed by Brad Anderson and stars David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Josh Lucas, Peter Mullan, and Brendon Sexton III, as an asbestos removal crew who are working in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past. Tensions begin to rise and some things are not all as they seem as they go deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.
I need to start with the fact that this film is absolutely incredible. It’s a very underrated thriller that will genuinely get under your skin. You’ve got this amazing location in an actual abandoned mental hospital and it’s dilapidated, it’s falling apart, it’s grimy and dark and disgusting and you get fully absorbed into the location completely. The place itself is its own character, which is really just an amazing thing that the filmmakers were able to do. I think I’d actually put this place up there with the Amityville house as one of the most terrifying locations I’ve ever seen in a movie. The tag line for this film, “Fear is a Place” is very fitting, as this place does get under your skin.
So, I’ve already praised how creepy the location is, I bet you’re asking how the performances are. They’re pretty good all around. David Caruso is totally David Caruso-ing this movie. But Peter Mullan is the one who steals the show for me. His character, Gordon, has a new baby which seems to be unnerving him more than should be expected and the way he reacts to this change in his life explodes in one of the most hair-raising reveals of the entire film. There’s also a lot to be said about the interactions of each of the characters, which early on is easy to see that they are stressed out, struggling for money, nearing retirement, every character just has some personal issues that they have and it causes a lot of tension among them. The actors do an incredible job portraying this and at times I actually thought they would come to blows.
There are times where the plot gets a bit confusing, as one of the members of the crew finds these audio tapes that are genuinely terrifying to listen to. These scenes were particularly unnerving, especially since this character listens to these tapes in an old office, which is constantly covered in shadow. I legitimately thought something was going to jump out and get him. This was a pretty effective creep-out factor that threw me off completely when the big reveal at the end came up (and oh yes…this reveal was disturbing as hell).
There’s something to be said about movies like this one. They’re small, underrated, don’t get the proper push that the bigger films get, and they tend to cater to a small cult-like crowd. I appreciate films like this way more than I do movies like The Conjuring because while I still like those big budget super pushed films, little movies like this show us that the filmmakers truly do have a passion for storytelling above just making a quick buck (that isn’t to say James Wan’s Conjuring-verse isn’t amazing storytelling…I LOVE YOU JAMES!)
In the end, Session 9 is a creepy, disturbing, absolutely insane film that when it truly drives home the final act, you can truly see the MADNESS that lay just beneath the surface. It erupts in a final sequence of violence that had my jaw on the floor. I appreciated the location they filmed at (Danvers Mental Hospital…it’s a real place…) and loved the performances. This little movie is a must watch for any fan of horror. Check it out on VOD or get the Shout Factory Blu-Ray, totally worth the price!
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