Review of Session 9 (2001) by Hoss R — 01 Dec 2011

The abandoned asylum in which most of Session 9 takes place is a wonderfully creepy, foreboding location. Basically it is the movie, and really deserved a better film to take place there. Unfortunately, I hear it's since been removed so there will never be another chance.

This movie is moody and tense in spots, but it's not nearly consistent enough. Just when the suspense is about to ratchet up for one character, they switch to another shot or three of other characters running around somewhere else, breaking the spell. Eventually you can see this is done to cover up the movie's secrets until its messy and unsatisfying reveal. Session 9, despite apparently having a talented crew and all the atmosphere they could ask for, resorts to gimmick sound effects during transitions and random footage including a spider attacking a bug when what the actors are doing should be enough to hold our attention.

The cast is actually pretty good overall, even Mr. Sunglasses himself, David Caruso. He has one hilarious line reading exacerbated by the cheesy camera angle but otherwise not bad. It would be nice to see some characters in a horror movie who work together for once, although depending on how you interpret the story there could be a good reason why these guys don't.

I couldn't help but think there was a world of untapped potential here. Only one scene I felt truly stood out as utilizing the setting for maximum effect - when Hank goes back at night for his treasure. But what about the signature chair? The dark subterranean tunnels? The wings reserved for extreme cases? The place where Hank finds his stash? There was just so much that could have been done with this the result feels tepid compared to what I would have imagined.