Review of Session 9 (2001) by Nicola D — 07 Aug 2012

Mary Hobbes(Simon): I live in the weak and the wounded... Doc. .

"Fear Is A Place".

Session 9 is my type of horror film. It isn't about blood or anything of that nature. It's a psychological horror film at its heart. It's effective and genuinely creepy for 90% of its runtime. You can tell that Brad Anderson was influenced by more than just the real life insane asylum this is filmed in. There are a lot of Kubrick's The Shining in this one. We have a guy who is taking a job at a place where terrible things happened. The introduction where he is walked around the asylum resembles the introduction to The Shining in many ways. This doesn't touch The Shining obviously, but this is still one of the better settings of any horror film I've ever seen. And Brad Anderson uses his setting to his advantage. There's tons of creepy shots of wheelchairs and dark corridors. There's tons of atmosphere in every single shot of the asylum.

An asbestos remover and his team take on an abandoned insane asylum and the leader, Gordon, claims he can have it done in a week. When they start the job, we begin hearing sessions of a patient with her doctor because one of the workers becomes interested in it. He starts sneaking off to listen to each session. The patient is Mary Hobbes and she had multiple personality disorder. We hear her talk, but also we hear her other personalities including, The Princess and Billy. The doctor is trying to get her to remember an experience from her childhood, but her other personalities won't allow it. The most sinister of her personalities is Simon and he doesn't come out until Session 9.

This has sort of a slow burn effect to it, but not as much as say a movie like House of the Devil. The film builds up tension in its first half and then slowly starts to bring on the terror. If there's a problem with the film, it is in the rather sloppy finish, but honestly I didn't really care. This film is all about the asylum and it is its best character. There aren't a whole lot of horror films out there that genuinely creep me out, but this is one of them. The atmosphere is seeping out of the screen and you can just feel the presence of everything that is in that asylum.

There's some sloppy character development and plot details, but who cares. This is as glorious a horror film as the 21st century has seen when it comes to setting and tone. It may have a few problems, but its strengths more than make up for its weaknesses. From what it seems, this is a rather polarizing film. Those expecting a fast paced, bloody rampage of a horror film will definitely be disappointed. But for you fans of the genre who love the slow, meticulous films that build and build upon themselves; you are in for a treat with Session 9.