Session 9

            There will be no Horror Origins this week because Netflix still hasn't delivered the next movie.  Unfortunately, while I'm not running low on horror series, I'm running low on easily accessible ones.  So in honor of my new life as a bachelor living in an apartment far larger than I need, let's talk about insanity.  More specifically: slow, simmering insanity and how a location can make or break the creepiness of a film.

            On to the review!

            I first saw Session 9 when I was stationed on Okinawa.  For most of 2002 I was on a huge horror kick, and I was renting as many of them as I could get my grubby little hands on.  I had never heard of the movie, but after viewing, it quickly became one of my all-time favorite psychological horrors.

            The movie itself is sparse on people and focused on plot.  Gordon (Peter Mullan) runs a floundering asbestos removal business and needs a good job to get himself and his crew back on their feet.  Thus, he grossly underbids his competition in an effort to win a government contract cleaning up an abandoned mental hospital.  It's a 2-3 week job, and he promises to get it done in one.  If they pull it off, they'll all receive a $10K bonus.

            Unfortunately, as these things typically go, shit does not get pulled off.  His only concession to the difficulty of the task is to add one more person to their usual 4-man crew.  Along with right-hand man Phil (David Caruso), possible future lawyer Mike (Stephen Gevedon) and kinda-asshole Hank (Josh Lucas), Gordon brings in his nephew Jeff (Brendan Sexton III)  to help out.  When one of the crew stops coming into work, they replace him with Craig (Larry Fessenden), a guy who has one of the best IMDB photos around.

            While all the characters are deeply flawed, their flaws play off each other, giving you the feeling that these actors actually spent years working together.  Their personalities clash and complement, making you feel that they like, hate, and respect each other just like actual coworkers do.  Their ability to play so well off each other is also what helps make Session 9 such a well done film.

            Before I go on, I think I need to single what makes the film amazing, rather than just good.  The Danvers State Asylum in Danvers, Massachusetts is the secret ingredient.  It's this sprawling, acres-wide institution that manages to impart true creepiness and, counter-intuitively, a strong sense of claustrophobia.  I really cannot stress enough just how perfectly they picked their location.  The place absolutely oozes paranoia.

            At first, it's just another job.  Yeah, they've gotta bust their asses, but work is work.  It's not until Mike finds a box labeled 'Session 9' that things start to get creepy.  As Mike tries to find more and more time to listen to the recordings of Mary, a woman with multiple personalities, things around the work site become increasingly dangerous and disturbing. 

            What works so well is the combination of men breaking down due to stress with these recordings overlayed on top of it.  Mary has three personalities inside her:  Princess, Billy and Simon.  Billy protects her from reality, Princess does most of the talking, and Simon...well Simon is a bit of a problem.  The doctor constantly tries to coerce Simon out in an effort to make Mary understand just what happened to her when she was a child.  Throwing these strange tapes on top of the film's events is what create an trulymulti-layered creepfest.

            Since getting into the plot would mean ruining a phenomenal movie, I'll leave you with this.  People are fallible.  They are susceptible to events around them.  Whether you're sane or not, we all have breaking points.

            Yes, Session 9 has its problems.  There are some ridiculous lines.  There are over-the-top moments of foreshadowing.  The entire thing, when broken down, is absolutely ludicrous.  But it's to the credit of the actors and the location, as well as the real, truly disturbing location, that makes it my second-favorite psychological horror.  Only The Changeling is more disturbing, or has a better 'twist' ending.