Session 9 (2001)

   

Directed by: Brad Anderson

Written by: Brad Anderson & Steven Gevedon

Starring:

David Caruso .... Phil
Peter Mullen .... Gordon Fleming
Stephen Gevedon .... Mike
Josh Lucas .... Hank
Brendon Sexton III .... Jeff

Special Appearance:


Paul Guilfoyle .... Bill Griggs

Release Dates: Theatrical: August 10, 2001; Deauville Film Festival: September, 2001; Sitges Film Festival: October 9, 2001; Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Films: March 27, 2002; Fantastic Film Festival: April 11, 2002; Lund Fantastisk Film Festival: September 28, 2002; Gérardmer Fantasticarts Film Festival: January 31, 2004

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Rating:

 

An asbestos abatement crew wins the bid for an abandoned insane asylum. One of them is named Gordon Fleming (Peter Mullen) who is disturbed by his past which involves his newborn baby tied in with his old girlfriend that one of the crew people Hank (Josh Lucas) is now dating. He also has a new baby which seems to be unnerving him more than should be expected.
Thing become even more complexed as a lawyer Mike (Stephen Gevedon) plays some old tapes which involves a schizophrenic talking to her shrink in which he seems to be obsessed listening to every session of this till he unravels this patients dark secret.
Meanwhile Hank finds some old coins and later on disappears along with their head crew person Phil (David Caruso) getting very aggressive with everyone in which this asylum seems to create this kind of energy on them forcing out all of their darkest secrets other than Gordon's.

 

This film seemed to pull off well with two of the main characters named Phil and Gordon about to do some researching in the asylum and refurbishing it all. It certainly makes the story look mysterious by how it was written as well as showing the famous chair in a dark hallway of the asylum. Meanwhile when one of the characters named Bill shows these two men around with what is shown almost reminds you of The Shining in a way.
Nice camera shots between Phil and Gordon Fleming having a serious and disturbing conversation with one another looking very dark and natural.
There's nice conversations with supporting character Bill Griggs towards Phil and Gordon by showing them around the sanitarium as these situations really brought everything to life by these three making their actions quite mysterious.
A nice close up shot on Gordon staring down a hallway with disturbed expressions on his face as this looked quite intimidating.
There's also flashback sequences with Gordon in a car watching a woman and her baby making you think on how the story ties into all of this. But you do get a feeling that he has a deep dark secret that on one knows about too.
Plus we get to one of the other characters named Mike listening to old tapes on mental patients having discussions with their shrink which seemed truly intense on what they were saying and one of them having a split personality as it psychs you out making you wonder if Mike will draw into the insanity by listening to what is being played. It almost seemed psychological in many spots when the tapes are played in many areas of the film.
There's nice camera shots on everyone including Mike sitting in front of an oak tree talking about what happened at the asylum in which he seemed to act light hearted talking about this as well as a nice shot on Gordon acting disturbed by this. These moments looked smoothly impressive on all of this.
Alot of good dark camera shots on a tape player while Mike shows a good serious focus while listening to all of this.
Also the story centers around the odd hidden treasures like when another character Hank removes a brick from the wall and finds some coins as this keeps you watching wondering how this came to be and what dark secrets will lead to this. Then he hears something in a dark corrdior while he looks around with his flashlight which looked believeably scary on how this was all done and written too. You wonder if there's an evil force behind all of this. Suddenly he thinks it's caused by something else which makes it even more scary in which we all know that he's wrong big time. That's what makes scene's truly scary folks.
A good intimidating discussion between Gordon getting gruff with Phil as well as him nearly getting violent to him as this was perfectly intense looking.
Gordon also starts to act even more aggressive with anyone around him including his autitstic nephew Jeff keeping you in suspense by wondering if he will do something deadly or dangerous. The environment around him makes you really think of someone who you're not sure about being safe around.
A good camera shot closing in on Gordon with his back turned wearing a uniform and spinning around in which this in was done in a good horror fashion.
There's also some power outages in which everyone acts scared by all of this or graffiti written on wall about Satan which also makes you wonder as to who is behind all of this.
There's perfect rambling conversations between Phil and Gordon which looked believeably insane.
Then others start to act a little crazy too as well as Jeff encountering one of their missing people which happens to be Hank who doesn't act the same as I liked this moment leaving more unsolved mysteries.
There's also a moment surrounding Jeff with his last words while someone that we won't know until later on is approaching him making you think that he is in danger which also makes you cringe big time.
All the way through you wonder who could be creating all of this as well as a twisted ending which really confused me by everything that was happening here.
There's other deadly flashback moments which works well for the film really psyching you out that involves a killer in a suit ready to do someone in showing that someone has a few skeletons in his closet.
Bottom line is this movie was very weird and twisted in which I was not sure if it was leaning towards possible supernatural forces like Blair Witch Project for example but it seemed to lean towards psychological moments although it's a movie for anyone who is disturbed by those types to watch without a problem. The film however was a bit too trite in which it needed more things happening too.

The acting is very good for the most part but only certain actors stood out in my mind so let's take a look here.... David Caruso (Phil) seemed to portray a good person in charge of everything by cleaning out a sanitarium in which he seemed a little too level headed with everything that he has a dark secret. He brought that out quite well along with him getting sarcastic here and there. Plus he showed great aggressions and a dominating attitude too. A nice aggressive and intimidating moment on him getting aggressive with him as well as acting nasty towards others in which he really brought this to life. He brought out alot to his role indeed.
Peter Mullen (Gordon Fleming) stood out the most out of the whole cast by having a disturbed past memory. He was believeably mysterious with everything that he did in the film. He comes across as truly intimidating with his silent attitude and gruff words too. He does a good job by acting disturbed by using his cell phone trying to talk to someone. Does well showing disturbed expressions while slowly walking towards some sort of a chair in a corridor trembling. He shows a great energetic moment on him grabbing someone and acting brutal which looked intensely performed. He was perfect breaking down and crying while talking on his cell phone which looked believeably emotional. Plus had the right looks for this type of role which was a plus. He was a true horror character actor indeed.
Stephen Gevedon (Mike) seemed to do well as someone who acts very light headed doing the things that he does. He speaks very clearly with his words which is even more impressive. He also has a nice seriousness to everything that he did in the film making you wonder if he will lose his sanity while watching every move that he does.
Brendon Sexton III (Jeff) was another actor who stood out well as someone who seems to be a bit autistic with his speech as well as his behavior too. He just brought the charactetr to life making you wonder if he was really like that along with his tough looks too. Seemed to do a good job goofing around during a breaktime. He does a great job freaking out or acting nervous too in some spots of the film. Shows great dynamic energy when he runs to everyone else telling them what he saw which looked totally hyped. He does very well tripping out in a corridor when the lights slowly go out with him running and yelling showing more energy with this scene. Does a good job racing towards a fan out of breath. He certainly was a nice key supporting role to the story.

There's alot of screechy sounds, high pitched tones as well as piano pounding too. Plus there's gloomy types of music in alot of the dark moments. All of this worked together incredibly well. We also hear some warped sounding synthesizer music too which was pretty creepy. What really sounds effective the most is this low piano tone for alot of the revealing secrets used in the film like when one of the characters listens to the tape recordings of the patients. This was superbly composed by the Climax Golden Twins

Doctor: Billy, where does the Princess live?
Mary Hobbes: [voice of Billy] In the tongue.
Doctor: Why the tongue?
Mary Hobbes: [voice of Billy] Because she's always talking, sir.
Doctor: And where do you live, Billy?
Mary Hobbes: [voice of Billy] I live in the eyes - you know that.
Doctor: Remind me, though. Why the eyes?
Mary Hobbes: [voice of Billy] Because... I see everything, sir.
Doctor: And where does Simon live, Billy? Where does Simon live?
Mary Hobbes: [Silence]