“I live in the weak and the wounded, Doc.”

The Scoop: 2001 R, directed by Brad Anderson and starring David Caruso, Josh Lucas and Peter Mullan

Tagline: Fear Is A Place

Summary Capsule: A dysfunctional work crew is hired to clean up an abandoned mental institution, but… come on, did you really think there was going to be anything good at the end of that sentence?

Drew’s rating: In retrospect, not the ideal movie for someone with a wife and a newborn daughter to watch.

Drew’s review: I’ve mentioned in past reviews that I have a real love/hate relationship with horror movies. I’m fascinated by the gothic and the unknown, the dark corridor you see a vague shape moving through, the unearthly wail that sends chills down your spine. Yet I’m no fan of excessively gory movies where the main goal seems to be finding the most creative way to spill someone’s intestines. My ideal horror movie takes its cues from the Silent Hill video games, where environment is everything: dingy, claustrophobic spaces, far-off cries and strange noises, flickering lights, an oppressive psychological atmosphere — these are the things that unnerve me, not chainsaw maniacs spilling buckets of karo syrup. So when I hear about a horror movie that seems to have flown under most people’s radars and promises to deliver these things, I figure it’s in my best interest to check it out. Which brings us to Session 9.

The film finds Gordon, owner of a failing asbestos removal business, bidding to clean up abandoned mental institution Danvers State Hospital. Supporting a wife and new baby and desperate for work, Gordon wins the contract by promising to complete the massive undertaking in only a week, bringing in a crew comprised of the conflicting personalities any good horror movie needs. There’s second-in-command Phil, constantly at the throat of the opportunistic Hank for stealing his girlfriend. Then we have Gordon’s nephew Jeff, who brings zero experience and the wonderful fringe benefit of a crippling fear of the dark. And then there’s intellectual Mike, whose curiosity may be the downfall of them all when he discovers a box of tapes from the therapy sessions of Mary Hobbes. Mary was a sweet young girl who one day happened to murder her entire family, ostensibly at the prompting of a mysterious voice named Simon. Before long Mike is stealing off at every opportunity to listen to them, growing ever more compulsive as he nears the ninth and final session. But with the rest of the crew tearing itself apart, what will the outcome be? Hint: maybe not a fat bonus check and a commendation on a job well done.

A lot of horror movies follow an extremely formulaic pattern: half an hour setting up the main characters, then a death every ten minutes until the final confrontation. Bucking established convention, Session 9 takes a very slow burn approach to getting where it’s going. This is a film for those who like the feeling of slowly mounting dread, of darkness coalescing without the characters even being aware of it. It will reward those who stick around till the end, but in the meantime you may find yourself wondering if anyone is going to die in this horror movie. They will, but gore-o-phobes have nothing to fear until the last ten minutes of the film, and even then most of the blood is implied rather than seen.

Another standard horror convention is people behaving stupidly and getting axed for it. Let’s face it, if the characters in any given slasher flick stopped and used their heads, at least half of them would make it out alive. The best scary movies are no exception, they’re just better at making you overlook this fact. One of Session 9‘s greatest successes is chronicling a breakdown of reality, where rationality falls by the wayside and people suffer accordingly. In that context, it almost makes sense that when one crew member goes missing, possibly injured, the others would split into two groups to look for him, or that Mike’s first instinct would be to dash off to listen to the final session, because good point dude, there’s probably a clue on that 40-year-old tape. Those reactions sound asinine when you read them, but in the reality the movie has created, it works.

I can see why Session 9 did not become an instantly beloved classic, and why some people seem not to know what to make of it. This isn’t a film wrapped up in a nice little package where the identity of the killer is obvious from the word “go.” You probably won’t get a feeling for who may be the impending perpetrator until three quarters of the way into the movie. Some will tell you that’s a sign of laziness, of the filmmakers not giving a proper explanation for what prompted the killings, and I can see where they’re coming from. But the fact is, Session 9 concerns itself with someone giving in to his inner demons and doing horrible things for reasons that don’t necessarily make a lot of sense. Is “Simon” an actual supernatural entity, or simply a voice whispering in the back of one’s psyche? No answers are forthcoming, and I’d argue that’s exactly how it should be. This is not a horror movie that will appeal to every fan of the genre; but if, like me, you enjoy a good scare but would prefer it stem from atmosphere and psychological tension rather than mondo blood n’ guts, take the opportunity to sit in on Session 9. You won’t regret it.

Intermission!

• For guys facing an impossible deadline, they take a hell of a lot of breaks. Also, they were going to clean this place in a week? Uh, no.
• You can’t tell me there’s anyone stupid enough to follow a trail of valuable coins and think there’s going to be something good waiting at the end.
• A recurring motif is the imagery of a lone chair. At one point Gordon runs past a wheelchair that’s been tipped over, one wheel spinning from some unseen source. An homage to this scene was featured in the video game Silent Hill 3.
• Danvers State Hospital is a real structure that did indeed serve as a mental institution for over a century. Built in 1878, it grew drastically in size and at its peak housed more than 2,000 patients. It operated continuously until finally being closed down in 1992. In 2005 the land was sold to a development company and many of the buildings demolished, despite public outcry, to make way for apartment complexes. However, a fire struck in 2007 and burned down several of the complexes mid-construction; the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
• Due to its gothic architecture, maze of underground tunnels, and close proximity to the site of the Salem Witch Trials, Danvers has inspired numerous fictional asylums, including H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham Sanitarium, which in turn gave rise to Batman’s Arkham Asylum. Besides Session 9, the hospital was also the setting of the 1958 movie Home Before Dark.
• Director Brad Anderson has said he was inspired to create Session 9 after driving past Danvers State Hospital every day. Because of the unsafe nature of much of the complex, filming was confined to a relatively small percentage of the building.
• A subplot excised from the final film involved a homeless woman living in the hospital who witnesses the events and eventually encounters the killer. Apparently test audiences became confused, thinking she was Mary Hobbes, so the subplot was dropped. It can be viewed in its entirety in the DVD’s deleted scenes.

Groovy Quotes:

• Jeff: Yeah, so… why did they close this place down?

• Security guard: Ah, all these places got closed down in the ’80s, you know, budget cuts. Feds called it “the Institutionalization.”

• Jeff: So, they just… dumped the people on the street?

• Guard: Some. Some went to like homecare-type programs.

• Hank: So the loonies are outside in the real world, and here we are with the keys to the loony bin, boys.

Phil: Good first day, guys.
Hank: Yeah, it keeps up like this, we’ll all be dead by Monday.

Hank: John Hinckley – temporary insanity. He’s not in jail, he’s in the nuthouse, right Mike?
Mike: That defense never works. Most people are cognizant of their actions when they murder. Homicide implies a motive.

Doctor: Billy, where does the Princess live?
Mary: In the tongue.
Doctor: Why the tongue?
Mary: Because she’s always talking, sir.
Doctor: And where do you live, Billy?
Mary: I live in the eyes, you know that.
Doctor: Remind me, though – why the eyes?
Mary: Because… I see everything, sir.
Doctor: And where does Simon live, Billy? Where does Simon live?
Mary: …..

Mike: Right, I mean, I’ll motivate him, little mullethead. He may be party in the back but I’ll make sure he’s business in the front.

Doctor: Why do you do it, Simon?
Mary: Because Mary let me, Doc. They always do. They always do.

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

If You Liked This Movie, Try These:

• Silent Hill
• The Shining
• The Haunting (1963)