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Peter Mullan, David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Josh Lucas, Brendan Sexton III ... see more see more... , Paul Guilfoyle , Lonnie Farmer

Writer/director Brad Anderson, known for whimsical romantic comedies like Next Stop, Wonderland, was inspired by the astonishing, creepy visage of an abandoned mental hospital in Danvers, MA, to make ... read more read more...the intense psychological horror film Session 9. The film stars the redoubtable Scottish actor Peter Mullan (from Ken Loach's My Name Is Joe) as Gordon Fleming, a new father struggling to keep his asbestos removal company afloat. Desperate to bring in some money, the normally deliberate and careful Gordon gets the contract by promising that his company can clear out the creepy deserted building in a week's time. Assisted by his right-hand man, Phil (David Caruso), Gordon hires a crew and, pressed by the nearly impossible deadline, gets the hazardous work underway. But each man on the crew harbors a dangerous secret, and it's only a short time before the haunted atmosphere of the asylum -- where cruel and primitive means were used to control unstable patients -- begins to work its dark spell on them. Session 9 was one of the first feature films shot using Sony's 24P HD video, which shoots at 24 frames per second, like film, as opposed to the 30 frames per second of conventional video. The filmmakers used the same camera that George Lucas would later use to film Star Wars: Episode II. Using this technology, Anderson and director of photography Uta Briesewitz were able to produce the uniquely effective, deep-focus images in Session 9 using mostly natural light. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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64% liked it

21,990 ratings

Critics

62% liked it

65 critics

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Brad Anderson

Release Date: August 10, 2001

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DVD Release Date: February 26, 2002

Stats: 1,813 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,813)

  • blacksheepboy
    February 12, 2012
    blacksheepboy
    An ominous psychological horror that relies on an effectively creepy atmosphere. It is a shame though that the suspenseful plot lacks coherence and purpose, with many unnecessary odd moments only to create tension and a strange conclusion that is more a letdown than a proper payoff.
  • 366weirdmovies
    January 15, 2012
    366weirdmovies
    A hazmat crew removing asbestos from an abandoned asylum uncover secrets about the long-dead but deeply disturbed residents in this slow-burn psychological horror. What's creepier than a crumbling building full of ghosts? A crumbling building full of schizophrenic ghosts.
  • MidnightMadwoman
    October 7, 2011
    MidnightMadwoman
    This movie gets inside your head and rattles you from the inside out. It moves a little slowly, but it's so insidiously creepy that it's easily worth it. One of the best horror movies out there. It's about an asbestos removal team that goes into an abandoned, condemned insane asl... read moreyum to clean it out, and one of the guys finds a set of reel-to-reel audio tapes in the basement of memory retrieval therapy sessions Mary Hobbes had with her psychologist decades before. What's even creepier though, is that one of the guys on the team has the same sort of memory repression problems. Pair that with each guy's past and the haunting, oppressive presence of the hospital itself and you have a recipe for some bad, tragic and scary stuff.

    I care about every single character in this film: Phil, the crabby guy who has to work with the assclown that stole his girlfriend, Mike, the overqualified almost-lawyer who jumps at any opportunity to stimulate his mind, Hank, the irresponsible jackass that Phil's itching to fire, Jeff, the nyctophobic kid hired by his uncle that's just trying to not screw up and Gordo, the mentally fragile boss whose wife won't talk to him for reasons he can't understand. I love all five guys; you get to see the best and worst of them, thier pettiness, thier senses of humour, the group's cohesion, how long they've worked together and you become really invested in the crew so much so that it's harrowing if they even fight. The looming mental hospital adds another dimension of suffering and madness that brings out the worst in everyone: tempers, paranoia, fears, worries. There are a number of ways to interpret what ends up happening to the men in this film. At the end of it all though, each viewer needs to decide for themself who Simon is.

    Simply put, this is my absolute favorite horror film, and I've seen a hell of a lot. If you missed this one, seek it out, see it, and tell me about it. You won't be sorry at all. Session 9 is utterly sublime.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    September 20, 2011
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "Fear Is A Place."

    Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.

    REVIEW

    A surprisingly very goo... read mored and very well made atmospheric mystery, the story starts when five contractors are given the task to clean up an old building which happens to be a former insane asylum. Right then and there you can tell that something terrible is bound to happen. It only gets worse when the head contractor hears a mysterious voice welcoming him back to the asylum and one of the workers becomes obsessed with a series of taped sessions that were recorded sometime ago by a doctor with patient. These two tales run parallel throughout the movie, along with conflicts and tensions that the men have amongst themselves, and eventually collide in a kicker of an ending worthy of writers like Poe and King.

    The focus here is on a spooky atmosphere, rather than gore, and it is pulled of very well. The feeling conjured up almost echoes 'The Shining' in creating unease and terror in a seemingly harmless and empty place. Obviously made on a low-budget and limitations, though one relatively well known actor, David Caruso, plays one of the contractors, the film moves right along and doesn't seem to have been made less than it could have been due to production constraints. In the end, it is definitely a recommended viewing.
  • 76Majikat
    February 25, 2011
    76Majikat
    Session 9 has a good story in theory, in parts it's quite gritty and in others it comes across very amateur.

    I was hoping for a big shock ending, but found it a little too anti-climatic.

    When it came to the tapes, I wasn't sure if the voices were slightly disturbing or a li... read morettle too over the top.

    All in all the film is a bit messy and not one I would recommend.
  • TheMachinist
    August 19, 2010
    TheMachinist
    "I need you to wake up, and take a really, "really" good look at him."

    Brad Anderson's 'The Machinist' is one of my favourite movies but I guess you kinda figured that out by my "name". A Flixfriend asked me about my opinion about 'Session 9', which is Anderson's second feature.... read more I've seen it a few years ago and to give an honest opinion, I had to check it out again.

    Stephen Gevedon, who also stars in the movie, wrote the script about a group of subtle asbestos removal workers. The leader of the company, Gordon, is in great need of money and wins the tender by promising to get a three week job done in a week. The Danvers State Hospital, which has been abandoned for years is in need of some work. The place has been a mental asylum but because of government cutbacks, the doors were closed.

    One day, a crew member called Mike, finds a box marked as evidence. Inside the box is nine taped sessions with a former patient, Mary Hobbes. Between working, he listens to all the tapes. Mary Hobbes has had a multiple personality disorder. She has four personalities, Mary, Princess, Billy and Simon, or so we are told. Throughout the sessions, it is revealed that something terrible has happened with Simon but the other personalities don't wanna talk about it.

    But it's not just about the tapes. Gordon has troubles at home, Phil and Hank aren't getting along. Jeff suffers from fear of the dark. One day Hank disappears after he is confronted by a dark figure in the shadows. Later on, Jeff sees Hank but then he disappears again. What is going on here?

    Just like 'The Machinist', 'Session 9' was also kinda hard to figure out at first. There are plenty of good things in the movie, especially the way how Anderson increases the tension of the movie. I wouldn't categorize 'Session 9' as a horror movie, it's more of a psychological thriller about the human mind.

    The story builds up nicely but it doesn't completely pay off. The ending doesn't feel that convincing, it feels more as something significant to the story was left out and the ending was just made-up. In the next segment of the movie I'll give you my opinion of how I think things really went, so don't read it if you wanna see the movie and make your own opinion. Hence, a big SPOILER ALERT!

    'Session 9' relies more on mental narration. Everything is not given out to you on a golden platter, so because the ending feels so contrived, I came up with the idea of, that the place, the asylum is in fact haunted. Simon, whose voice is heard by a key figure, is a demon that lives inside the asylum. He messes with the mind, gives false visions to the head. Simon takes over the body of the one whose life is at a fragile point. The last quote, said by Simon, proves my point.

    'Session 9' is an interesting movie but the narrative is too slow for the film to completely work. Anderson has focused more on setting up the mood and the film offers more anxiety than needed. I'd like to see more well-written characters but all I get is from the start a knowledege of something bad that is about to happen. Despite these few negative opinions that bothered me a bit, 'Session 9' comes recommended to fans of psychological thrillers. Give it a shot and give it your own conclusion.

    "I live in the weak and the wounded."
  • flixsterman
    June 19, 2010
    flixsterman
    Eerie and effective. Director Brad Anderson uses conventional tactics in very unconventional ways.
  • SirPant
    September 15, 2009
    SirPant
    If Session 9 can teach anything to up and coming horror film makers, its this; If you want to make a believable and creepy movie, use good actors! Session 9 is a great psychological horror!
  • LitelBluHli
    December 31, 2008
    LitelBluHli
    This was soooooooooo slow...it didn't really go anywhere.
  • DrZeek
    November 26, 2008
    DrZeek
    Phil: We'll take the tunnels. They're safer.
    Jeff: "Safer"?

    A simply plotted psychological thriller that makes good use of its setting, focuses on subtle scares, and succeeds as a well shot film.

    The plot involves an asbestos cleaning crew hired to work in an abandoned mental ... read morehospital. The crew consists of five men, all with their own ticks.

    The leader is Gordon, played by Peter Mullan, who is having issues with his wife and newborn. Second in command is Phil, played by David Caruso who has issues with Hank, played by Josh Lucas, because he stole his girlfriend. You then have Mike, played by Stephen Gevedon (who co-wrote the film), who develops an obsession with some recordings of patients he finds in the hospital. Lastly is rookie Jeff.

    Mike: I need you to go downstairs and check the breaker box.
    Jeff: ...I can't do that.
    Mike: Why?
    Jeff: I got nyctophobia.
    Mike: What?
    Jeff: Fear of the dark.
    Mike: [incredulous] Okay...

    The things that occur in this story involve tensions rising between the crew and mysterious going-ons that seem to be affecting their performance.

    Part of what makes this movie work so well is how it slowly develops itself. We know something is building, but we're not sure what and the movie toys with these aspects, while providing an intriguing watch. This isn't a good horror flick for a party setting, its much more intimate and works better on a thinkers level.

    The ending goes off a bit and there are some questionable audio and dialog choices, but the film works very well.

    Director Brad Anderson has made use of a special digital camera that gives the film a wonderfully real look and also manages to subtly inject a visual style into this film that pulls you in without seeming to imply what will occur. This is also met with a few standout camera moments in terms of how certain highlight scenes are handled.

    Its creepy without being overdone and I really enjoyed it.

    Doctor: And where do you live, Simon?
    Mary Hobbes: I live in the weak and the wounded... Doc.

View All Session 9 Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
January 3, 2002
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

A great setting in search of a decent horror film to fill it.

Geoff Pevere
September 21, 2001
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

The movie's misplaced psychological emphasis is matched by its stubble-scraping visual style. Full Review

Liam Lacey
September 21, 2001
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

For a while there, the film has us going. Full Review

Edward Guthmann
September 14, 2001
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

The story doesn't quite pay off, characters are underwritten and the surprise ending is contrived and unconvincing. Full Review

Peter Travers
August 27, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

A spine-tingler.

David Edelstein
August 20, 2001
David Edelstein, Slate

The final illuminations ... are a poor return on nearly two hours of ear-buckling, eye-stabbing incoherence. Full Review

Robert Koehler
August 13, 2001
Robert Koehler, Variety

Although aimed at restoring the psychological horror movie to full life after years of dormancy, Session 9 is little more than an overworked exercise in jostling red herrings, and not particularly fre... Full Review

Lou Lumenick
August 10, 2001
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

The film isn't remotely scary.

David Germain
August 10, 2001
David Germain, Associated Press

Yet another lesson to Hollywood that a fright film need not be awash in blood and elaborate special effects.

Jay Carr
August 10, 2001
Jay Carr, Boston Globe

As the violence escalates, the store of ominousness shrinks and gives way to silliness, leaving some talented actors high and dry.

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Session 9 Trivia

  • This movie starred David Caruso and has a beautifully dark soundtrack by the Cocteau Twins. Which movie is it?  Answer »
  • What tape does 'Simon' finally show up on in the movie "Session 9"?  Answer »
  • Alot of the patients ended up where when the hospital closed in Session 9 ?  Answer »
  • There is a cemetary up behind the machine shop with old tombstones from the early 1800s in Session 9 ?  Answer »
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