I can’t talk about early aughts horror without broaching the topic of Session 9. Seemingly out of nowhere, Session 9 has had the patented “One of the most underrated films of insert time period here” discussions that seem ever present in the 2020s. Rightfully so, the film is fantastic, but why now? Let’s take a step back. The year is 2005. A 12-year-old me is jumping back and forth between AMC’s FearFest and Sci-Fi’s 31 Days of Halloween (back before they shittily changed the name to SyFy). I don’t remember which film preceded it, or if it was AMC or Sci-FI, but a film started and I was hooked. Asbestos cleaners (I didn’t know what that was) begin work on an abandoned asylum, and things get progressively weirder. And also, two dudes from CSI are in it? AND I’m frightened?
I was hooked.
For some reason, I didn’t check the TV Guide on channel 100. And I didn’t remember the channel putting the film’s title in the lower third at all. Whatever this movie was that I just watched, I loved it. And then the film didn’t play again. Every waking hour I could, I would watch the TV guide, hoping to see channel 48 or 65 with a movie I hadn’t heard of in the hopes it would be that movie. Cut to my junior year of college. I’m walking through FYE at the mall, on break from my job at PacSun. Scanning through the ‘S’ section brought something into my life that I had long forgotten. I looked at the cover of this movie…the haunting wheelchair basked in the orange sunlight…this was it. I had finally figured out what that movie was called: Session 9.
Session 9 follows Gordon (Peter Mullan), the owner of an asbestos removal company, who brings his right-hand man Phil (David Caruso) to meet with Bill Briggs (Paul Guilfoyle). The purpose of their meeting is to try and win the bid to clear the asbestos out of the [real-life] Danvers State Hospital. They end up winning the bid, though Gordon promises Bill they can do this two-week job in one week. The rest of the team, Hank (Josh Lucas), Mike (Stephen Gevedon), and Jeff (Brendan Sexton III) arrive to start getting down to business. Things quickly go awry when Hank finds a stash of riches, Mike finds nine tapes from a patient’s sessions, and Jeff is a newbie who is afraid of the dark. Some team members begin to disappear, some start acting weird, hearing voices, and playing cat and mouse with missing members…and that’s just scratching the surface.
The biggest issue with Session 9 is what we’re told versus what we see. Written by Brad Anderson and Stephen Gevedon, and directed by Brad Anderson, there’s a slight disconnect between the story and the visuals. A few red herrings are sprinkled throughout but don’t do much to affect the overall story. For instance, Phil and the drug dealers. This moment only instills agitation and confusion in Gordon but doesn’t do much to further Phil’s character. We see him smoking pot later in the film, and that’s the payoff. Anderson and Gevedon’s script foment a sense of purposeful confusion to throw the audience off for the big finale. Part of me wonders if the finale would have been more impactful if they solely focused on [spoiler]’s descent into madness and not worrying about whether or not audiences would be going back and forth between what is actually going on.
What does the film do right? Everything else.
Even though Anderson and Gevedon’s script is a bit muddy, it’s still a brilliant story. Each character gets their moment to shine and wraps itself up fairly neatly. Mike’s growing obsession with Mary Hobbes’s therapy sessions creates a unique atmosphere and is weaved into the is it/isn’t it question regarding whether or not the asylum is haunted. This brings into question whether or not we’re watching a film about an asylum that’s haunted by a being powerful enough to affect those within its walls OR if we’re watching a broken man fall apart while he takes everyone with him. Both have their own contextual clues that provide an answer. Whichever answer you pick is right for you.
Acting-wise, everyone brings their A-game. Peter Mullan does a lot of heavy lifting with his powerful charisma and ear-tickling Irish brogue. David Caruso delivers one of the greatest lines in horror when he absolutely chews up the scenery, telling someone, “Hey. Fuck you.” But one person takes this terrifying tale and makes it a bonafide classic: Larry Fessenden. The character Craig McManus (Larry Fessenden) is alluded to here and there. Every time I watch Session 9, I cheer a little when I see his beautiful mug speed into the parking lot of Danvers. It’s funny to look back and reflect on my obsession with Larry Fessenden. The first time I played Until Dawn, I realized I knew that character from something. It’s clear now that Session 9 was the film that formed my fascination with Larry Fessenden.
Beside Larry Fessenden, the star of this film is Danvers State Hospital. While it boasts a terrifying and saddening set location, the true horrors that lurked within these walls less than 50 years ago are haunting. Patients of this asylum endured deplorable conditions, lobotomies, shock “treatment” and many more atrocities. The horror that went on within this compound is more frightening than anything that could be put on camera. Filming in a real-life hospital adds a level of terror that most films wish they had. Watching the hospital, and the potential supernatural inhabitants, slowly wear down each member of the crew is fascinating in its own right. The hour and 40-minute runtime is tightly paced for a film of this length, but I would have gladly accepted another 20 minutes of pure insanity.
Session 9 doesn’t feel too dated against its 2001 release, which is a godsend for early-aughts horror films. Each second that ticks by adds more anxiety and fear until the film stops edging you and lets you release. When you are finally given the “answer” to what is truly going on, you’re breathless and ready for a break. Anderson’s directing takes what was already an excellent script, even with the issues, and makes this film an instant classic. If ever there was a film that needed a boutique distribution company to release a ridiculously priced 4K chock full of special features, it’s Session 9.