Session 9 (USA/2001), directed by Brad Anderson
Review written by Gauntgirl, August 28, 2001.
It's a sad state of affairs that an original, well thought-out film like Session 9 gets such a small theatrical release when crap like Ghosts of Mars seems to be unavoidably everywhere. It is my guess that most film-goers hear words like "independent", "low-budget", and "digital video", and freak out because, inevitably, such a film is going to make you work and, God forbid, think. Then, of course, there was The Blair Witch Project which a lot of critics have compared Session 9 to. Even though I wouldn’t want to make that comparison myself, if it helps you, think of Session 9 as a more intelligent, scarier, better quality version of The Blair Witch .
Session 9 focuses on the experiences of 5 men contracted to remove asbestos from an abandoned asylum. The asylum on its own is exceptionally creepy, but it doesn’t help matters that there appears to be a subtle force at work, dramatically altering their sanity and perceptions from the moment they arrive. The story is tied together by the therapy session tapes (found by one of the men) of a young woman with multiple personality disorder. It seems that the traumatic past of this young woman is directly affecting the mental stability of the men working within the asylum. Ultimately, one of the men totally loses touch with reality and kills someone very close to him without even knowing it. The neat thing is that it isn’t clear whether the spooky happenings are supernatural or psychological. The audience is left to decide for itself whether the events are just coincidental or if there really is an entity manipulating the men.
My one critique of the story is with the character who doesn’t realize that he’s a murderer. Of course, the revelation of “who done it” is saved for the very end and the set up for this revelation is elaborate enough to make you expect that it will be a surprise, but in fact, it isn’t. Too much is given away during the course of the film about each of the characters that the climax becomes predictable. Brad Anderson really should have decided between going for the surprise ending, or focusing on the slow development of a psychotic personality – you can’t have both! None the less, Session 9 is still a very creepy and disturbing film, even if you figure out what’s going to happen early on.
Visually, this film is quite plain – no explosions, no special effects, very little gore – but this fact actually helps the film achieve its disturbing feel. The realistic, documentary-like feel of digital video works wonders for this film. The actors come across more like real people, the acting feels all the more genuine, and the setting is all the more unsettling. Although the story is told from a third person perspective, there are moments that almost feel like you are watching a documentary, convincing the mind that the happenings could be real. And yet, the video quality to the film is subtle (you don’t need to worry about Session 9 if you found yourself nauseated by the hideous camera movement in The Blair Witch Project); video technology has come a long way and it’s closer to film quality than ever before .I think Session 9 proves that digital video can have an effective, high quality use in the future of naturalistic horror; and considering that we seem to live in the age of “reality entertainment”, it is sure to be much more popular in the years to come.
