Session 9 (2001 film)

Alternate personalities listed for a mental patient in Session 9 (2001 film)...

Session 9, 2001 film

Summary

"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.

Details

• Release Date: 2001
• Country/Language: US, English
• Genres/Technical: Suspense, Mystery, Horror (psychological horror)
• Runtime: 1 hr 37 min
• Starring: David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Paul Guilfoyle
• Director: Brad Anderson
• Writer: Brad Anderson, Stephen Gevedon
• Producer/Production Co: USA Films, Scout Productions, October Films
• View Trailer: (link)
• IMDB page: (link)
• TVTropes page: (link)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: R (Violence, Profanity, Adult Content)

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)

Not particularly Lovecraftian, beyond a character digging through boxes of abandoned materials to put together whatever happened in the hospital, with no definite answers presented and the audience left to put the clues together and decide for themselves. The story hook - a group of people who need the money too badly to refuse are left to clean up an isolated and abandoned mental hospital alone. The hospital is Danvers mental hospital in Massachusetts, which does appear in a couple Lovecraft stories as "Arkham Asylum".

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• Brett Gallman at Oh The Horror (link) - "...a sneakily great film that hums along with a haunting precision..."
• Richard Scheib at the Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review (4/5 Stars) (link) - "For a great part of the film though – nearly three-quarters of the running time – you are not even sure what type of film Session 9 is – a haunted house story, a psycho-thriller, or even if there is anything at all lurking in the building. It is all brooding tension that seems to be building to a big payoff."
• Brad Slaton at HorrorFreak News (Four Stars) (link) - "Writers Brad Anderson and Stephen Gevedon expertly craft a script that plays on a number of psychological fears and incorporates the location as an actual character that grows and deepens with each moment."
• Scott Tobias at AVClub, (link) - "...The film takes root in your system over time, never leaning on shock efforts or hitting the expected horror beats... Session 9 builds to something — and gets plenty of shocks in when it matters — but it sustains a level of unbroken (yet steadily escalating) tension that’s rare even in independent horror films...."

Synopsis

 Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)

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. The exact nature of the horror is left ambiguous: it might be a psychological aberration or weakness that lurks deep inside everyone, just waiting for an excuse to take over, or it might be something more supernatural....

Notes

Comments, Trivia, Dedication

• filmed in Danvers State Insane Asylum in Danvers, Massachusetts (AKA "Arkham Asylum")
• Danvers State Hospital was built in 1874 on Hathorne Hill, which got its name from its original owner, Judge John Hathorne. John Hathorne was appointed by Governor Sir William Phips to be a judge in the Salem Witch Trials. Judge John Hathorne was also the great-grandfather of American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Associated Mythos Elements

• Location: Danvers State Insane Asylum in Danvers, Massachusetts
• Race: the voice of "Simon" and other alternate personalities of a patient recorded on tape
• Tomes: tape recordings of psychiatric interviews, patient records, and artwork and other artefacts left by former patients