Session 9 Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Fear Is A Place.
An asbestos abatement crew wins the bid for an abandoned insane asylum. What should be a straightforward, if rather rushed, job, is complicated by the personal histories of the crew. In particular, Hank is dating Phil's old girlfriend, and Gordon's new baby seems to be unnerving him more than should be expected. Things get more complicated as would-be lawyer Mike plays the tapes from a former patient with multiple personalities, including the mysterious Simon who does not appear until Session 9, and as Hank disappears after finding some old coins.
| David Caruso | Phil |
| Stephen Gevedon | Mike |
| Paul Guilfoyle | Bill Griggs |
| Josh Lucas | Hank |
| Peter Mullan | Gordon Fleming |
| Brendan Sexton III | Jeff |
| Charley Broderick | Security Guard |
| Lonnie Farmer | Doctor |
| Larry Fessenden | Craig McManus |
| Jurian Hughes | Mary Hobbes |
| Sheila Stasack | Wendy |
| Sean Daly | Vision |
| Brad Anderson |
6.70 out of 10 (8371 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Downright Creepy.And it DOES MAKE SENSE!!!!!!
posted on 31 Jul 2009Logan 22's comments basically translate to "I don't have the brain power to figure out this psychological and meaningful plot (and there is one trust me)so I'll just slag it off instead. It's easier".The film was excellent. It gave us something different than the average horror. We get four guys working in a mental hospital trying to rid it off asbestos. Weird s**t goes down. One of the crew hears a mysterious voice all the time which we later discover to be on a session tape of a patient. All the guys seem to be getting stressed out. And eventually murder ensues. This film's tactics is to confuse you and chill you out when the reality of what is going on finally hits you. And for all those who think the plot doesn't make sense. I'll be kind and do your own brain work for youSPOILERSYears ago there was a patient named Mary committed at the hospital. She has 4 personalities. One is called "Simon". Simon is evil and got her to kill her brother. Interviews with Mary and her "others" are recorded on Session tapes. Still with us? GoodYears later the place is shut down and along come our guys. You'll notice that the voice Gordon hears in his head is "Simon's" so anyone who says the session tapes have nothing to do with anything are full of it! This is to show that Gordon suffers from the same mental illness as Mary. Hence thats why he was infected with Simon. The fact that he would be possessed by the same alter ego is what makes the idea chilling.The first day of getting the job. Gordon had walked through the hospital and Simon had somehow noticed he was already a weak man under stress and possessed him. Later when Gordon went home he killed his wife and child so anytime you see him talking to her on the phone he is talking to no one. He is insane. Eventually he goes on a kill spree and kills the crew.Makes perfect sense to me!!
Pretty good flick... definitely worth a watch.
posted on 23 Jul 2009I caught Session 9 on Showtime last night. I was excited to see that it was on because I had seen people suggest on multiple boards as "a good one to check out". I had seen this for rent at Blockbuster but I steered away from it primarily because Caruso was in it. I'm not a fan of him... but he turned out to be pretty good.Anyway, it was late at night, and I happen to live in the country, so it was a good time for this movie.It started a little slow, but soon enough came the psychological drama. The scene of Hank in the basement area at night was ultra creepy. One thing I REALLY enjoyed about this movie, was that there were NO "music" scares. You know, the HUGE orchestra hit when something comes around a corner. They relied on the visual and psychological aspect to freak you out. And it worked.I can't help but feel that some of the character development was a little, not sure of the word, not pointless, but maybe a little scatter-brained. However, you really could feel tension between the characters, and how Gordon was slowly turning into a nut-bar. Anyway, this isn't on my top list... but it's most certainly NOT anywhere towards the bottom. I would recommend this to people who like psychological drama. I wouldn't really call this movie horror. Plot - Generic plot done right Characters - Acting was good, development left a little to be desired Score - Just right, no music scares Filming - Low budget, but totally good enough Guilty Pleasure - Caruso's "F@#$ Yooooou" was a riot Ending - Tastefully done.
ONE OF THE BEST
posted on 11 Jul 2009Let me start out by saying, guys like Slayer 4 who left a comment earlier, are the reason horror films have gone to Hell. They are all the same, made for preteens, who have shown by some of the preceeding comments left here, don't even know how to structure a sentence, much less what preceeding means. On to the review. This was a great movie. I have not been this freaked out by a movie in a long time. It wasn't gore that freaked me out, it was atmosphere, dialouge, and acting. Imagine that kids! A movie that relies on story. What a novel idea! The Sessions in Session 9, where some of the freakiest parts of the movie. The way Mr. Anderson (director) had the doctor patient sessions on tape to sound many years old was amazing. Listening to this movie in my living room the other night, it felt like Simon was there with me. Not often does a movie relay a feeling so well. If you want to truly be scared by a story, then rent this flick. If you just want to see blood and gore, then just wait on "I Know What Urban Legend you Screamed About Last Valentine's Day, Which Somehow Fell on Friday the !3th in My Small Teenage Mind" I'm sure Freddy Prinze Jr. will be in it for all you who don't like to think out there. If you don't like this movie, then you probably didn't like the Shining, and, well, to put it bluntly, I think it's time to pull the plug on the life support for you brain-dead individuals out there. WATCH THIS MOVIE! Thanks for your time, and don't take anything I said personally. These are just the thoughts of one horror fan, who is sick of the same movies over and over again, and hopefully a movie like this, and a movie like The Others, can change that. Spideyy
Sweet movie
posted on 25 Jun 2009This movie was grand! It was great! And did I mention: it was fantastic! As per the request of the one who calls herself Rivethead (spelling?), I thought that I would give this movie a big fat 10! Of course, not just because of someone's request, but because this movie was...well...creepy! The setting for the movie was creepy, every single actor contributed greatly, and their performances were creepy (in a good way, of course), and the director knew how to make a creepy movie. I love creepy movies, and this one was fantastic. I hope this helps the rating score for all you Session 9 fans out there, and I'm glad to be in such fine company.-SutterCaneFan
BIG Disappointment!
posted on 21 Jun 2009I agree with the posting of "Average Viewer" that the previous postings were totally misleading regarding the "brilliant" artistry of the movie, when, in actuality, this movie was a huge disappointment. The only good thing about it was Peter Mullan, who is one of the best actors of our time (and thank God he used his natural accent in this piece!).The previous postings reported that the "mystery" of the movie was "tied up" in the end - it was not. I have watched horror, thrillers, mysteries, and "twist-ending" movies all of my life, and have always had a proclivity to figure out the premise. In this movie, however, I am sitting here immediately after watching it and am distressed because I have no idea exactly what the plot was supposed to be about. It was an enormous build-up to an end that made no sense at all, and those who PRETEND to "get it" are pretentious idiots who are affecting cinematic knowledge when, in fact, that have no idea what they are posting about! This movie has no explanation at all regarding what was going on during the entire length of it.The actual movie, itself, seemed to be exciting and well-done, until you got to the end,which was a huge disappointment because of the let-down. One feels vacant after watching it, and I suggest not doing so. The acting was good, and the progression as well, but if you don't like to be left "hanging" after watching a movie - don't watch it.
session 9 thoughts...with das
posted on 11 Jun 2009at first i thought this movie was a bit slow, but quickly began to appreciate the work and creativity of the film making. this movie is visually pleasing, and i believe it is one you have to fully understand in order to like it. one must pay attention and not be blinded by their own expectations. if you can do this, then i think you will be walking away thinking about this movie for days after and realizing that it indeed is a good film. now about the story...near the beginning i definitely thought that the place was haunted by it's past and the patients. for example, when hank is taking the coins and belongings i thought that perhaps the patients got angry that he was stealing their things so they began to torment and hunt him down for doing this. (the scene where he was running through the tunnels in the dark and saw the figure was pretty creepy!) now, after i saw phil talking to the two guys, i pretty much figured it was having to do with drugs, but at the same time it made me suspicious of him. especially since hank turned the corner was obviously confronted by something. when it was confirmed that phil was a pothead, it made me think that they are totally setting this up that he is a crazy man. i had the impression that he wanted hank gone so he killed him. (...stealing amy, being a jerk all the time to him, wanting craig on the job instead) it had me distracted from noticing a lot of the little details having to do with gordon. as for him, i figured he was just distraught from the family problems. he had a weirdness about him the whole time and once the family issues came to attention it was automatically figured this was the reason. now when phil found hank, he was so calm about it i confirmed that phil was the bad guy. but when jeff freaked out and ran to gordon's truck and ate his oreos i had a confusion moment because it was obviously gordon by the way jeff was reacting. i didn't know at this point if the people were really getting killed or if the scene cuts with screeching noises were just "jump" factors. i was completely blind to suspecting gordon. i think part of the reason for this is, they make you like gordon, they make you feel sorry for him. i also thought at some points that he was sick in a physical way from breathing in so much asbestos (seriously)...and i think they wanted you to think it was phil, they were putting blame on him in many ways(drugs, arriving early, the phone call to amy, the anger, going behind gordons back and telling about him hitting his wife, finding hank without much reaction, etc...) this really should have been a big neon sign to me that it was gordon. but it just didn't hit me. i was somewhat disappointed thinking it was phil because it was turning into so many other story plots with a twist...so i was very happy when i realized i was wrong and gordon was the crazy man. i think it was done well, and it makes you want to watch it again to catch all the clues.i liked this movie, i would recommend it to anyone.there were a couple things i am not exactly clear on 1. gordon being so weirded out with finding the coins 2. gordon seeing the blood on his fingernails (blood from killing people? another reason i thought he might be ill) ...well i think that is it. and before i go, i must say that craig was one gnarly lookin dude.
An Excellent, Unsettling Horror Movie
posted on 28 May 2009_Session 9_ is truly an overlooked little gem of a film. Just caught the DVD the other night and this is one scary, disturbing movie. The setting, the abandoned Danvers State Mental Hospital, an ACTUAL place, is one of the all-time great settings for a horror film. Just walking around it is enough to send chills up a person's spine. On one of the DVD commentary tracks, star Peter Mullen says it really wasn't very hard to get in character, as the whole place is "f***in' creepy."Mullen plays the leader of a group of men employed to remove asbestos and other toxic substances from the building, in preparation for its use as a public administration building. Desperate for the job, he agrees to do it in a weeks' time and he and the four men under him are under a great deal of stress to get the job done. If they're successful, they'll receive a $10,000 bonus. The film follows them through each day of that stressful week as they get progressively more and more stressed out and as one of their number mysteriously disappears.This was an excellent, scary film. It has the same sort of unsettling vibe as _The Blair Witch Project_. There isn't a whole lot happening, until the gruesome conclusion, but just the atmosphere and the tension will keep you riveted to the screen. The DVD includes a bunch of great extras, including a whole deleted subplot, complete with directory commentary, as well as a section of storyboards to screen, and a brief look at the actual hospital where the movie was filmed. It's too bad this didn't get more attention when it was in theaters, but now that it's on video, here's your chance!
Psychological thriller that demands second viewing
posted on 18 May 2009Ambience alone will provide serious thrills and chills for most horror fans upon the first viewing of Session 9. But a second viewing is almost mandatory to catch the subtleties of the storyline and to truly make sense of what's going on. I wasn't frightened at all the second time I viewed this. Rather, I recognized it for the warped character study that it is. There are some terrific performances (particularly by David Caruso and Peter Mullan) along with some pretty sizable red herrings. Biggest criticism: the other 3 characters are poorly drawn.Some supposed know-it-alls on this site have erroneously compared this film to the likes of Don't Look Now. No, it isn't in that league. Much closer to Blair Witch or The Shining in feel and Erik Skjoldbjaerg's Insomnia in perspective.Check it out. Movies like this give us horror fans hope that the genre hasn't been completely prostituted by the likes of Scream, etc. My compliments to Brad Anderson for taking chances. Next Stop Wonderland took the romantic comedy to a higher level. Now he's done the same for the horror genre.
I find myself agreeing with the flattering reviews
posted on 14 May 2009This is an excellent film. From beginning to end I was impressed. As with others, I do not become unnerved by films easily but this has easily jumped into my personal pantheon of favorite films. Considering the mind-numbingly redundant trash that passes for horror today I am pleased to say that "9" is what my sister would call a "finder". I would recommend this to anyone who is tired of the made-for-idiots remakes of 70's horror films like "The Fog" and "The Hills Have Eyes". Well made, well-acted and don't let the anti-Caruso crowd affect viewing this film. The star of this film is not Caruso but the genuinely scary atmosphere of this film.
Very Scary, pulled me in..
posted on 08 May 2009I liked this movie a lot. I love to watch truly scary movies and they are becoming hard to find. This one had a feeling much like "The Shining", which is high praise. I loved the setting too, very creepy and nice touches of "Equipment" placed about. David Caruso's acting was not outstanding, but it was adequate. I recorded it and then almost not watched it, but when I saw they were going to this huge abandoned Mental Institution, I knew it would get to me.
Very Underrated Horror Film
posted on 08 May 2009I had the pleasure of seeing this film by accident. I was channel surfing one evening and because nothing else was on, I chose to watch this film. I was glad I did.I never even heard of this film and I wonder why. It was an intelligent film. Truly disturbing. In an age where horror is all about being chased by a madman or spirit only to end with blood and guts, I can see why this film was sadly overlooked. I am a huge fan of the type of horror I just described, but I also like a psychological thriller that makes me think and continue thinking long after the movie is over. This it that type of film. It has been a couple of years and I still think about this movie.Although I don't think so, some may consider this movie to be slow, as you don't really know what is going on until the end. It keeps you guessing the entire time, which is what I liked most about this film.I was very impressed with this movie. The acting was good and very convincing. Josh Lucas is in this film. He is a pretty big actor now, but he wasn't at the time. I saw his potential in this film. David Caruso was also good, but Peter Mullan as Gordon was the best.This is not your typical horror film. If you are looking for a gore fest, this film is not for you. If you are looking for an intelligent thriller that stays with you long after viewing the film, rent this movie or consider buying it. You will not be disappointed. I am glad I "accidently" watched this film. It is one of my favorites.
Excellent psychological nightmare
posted on 04 May 2009Welcome to Danver's Lunatic Asylum - until the '80s home to many a poor soul and a fair amount of controversy. Fast-forward to the present, and the place is condemned. It stands rotting and neglected, a relic of a more ignorant age. Its walls are crumbling, the paint peeling, the whole structure decaying under the burden of time - God knows what dwells that within its poisoned halls. Asbestos for one, which is why Gordo's team has been hired. An asbestos abatement crew, they're pros, but not exactly fit for purpose right now.The team is riddled with anger and antagonism. Phil and Hank glare at each other, Hank having spitefully run off with Phil's girl. Mike is miffed in general, somehow having flunked out of law school, despite coming from illustrious legal family. Brought on at short notice is Jeff, Gordo's nephew, and despite being a pretty good natured, is also a mulleted ingénue, unused to dealing with hazardous material, and also afraid of the dark… Gordo isn't doing great either, since he's reacted to his new baby and oddly, and is showing the strain of a fraught home life. Despite the myriad issues, he accepts the job, and imposes an ambitious, possibly irresponsible, timetable: they have one week to decontaminate the hospital, a scheme crazy enough to land him among Danver's by-gone patient list, because the facility is huge, a vast winding labyrinth of corridors, tunnels, passages, kitchens, morgues, basements, patient 'treatment' rooms and hidden cubby-holes, the perfect setting for a horror film, in other words.Sadly, this excellent, intelligent film was deprived of a cinema release in the UK, but that by no means proves it unworthy. It is, in fact, one of the best horror/ghost stories of recent times, belying a low-budget with elements often neglected now i.e. a good script, good performances, good control of mood, good characterisation. Far, far too many horror films rely upon gore and flashy camera-work to terrify, but Session 9 succeeds by virtue of good drama. Is Danver's really haunted? It would certainly seem that way, with the overly curious Mike rummaging through the asylums records and uncovering a batch of taped interviews with a distressed victim of multiple personality disorders, whose shrink is slowly digging deeper into her psyche. While the tapes (sessions 1 through 9) are secretly played and more facts emerge, the strained relationship between the men grows more and more volatile, and each man slowly making discoveries and forming suspicions, about the menacing building (which is both paying and possibly poisoning them), and about each other. Has a spirit been released by the men's violation of the asylum, or is it just basic pressure? How long they all cracks? Session 9 was apparently written about the asylum, with filming in there always an intention. Certainly, the building is a character in itself; with its decrepit structure and mysterious, deadly past, it is a convincing visual metaphor for a deranged mind – you could easily imagine someone going mad within it. Perhaps this is what Session 9 shows best, and why it works so well: it demonstrates that the human mind can conjure up horror without any help from the supernatural - ghosts and demons are all in our heads, but sometimes they can burst out if we let them. Technically, the film is excellent. I read some rather snooty reviews that claimed the digital camera-work was a bit scrappy, and that there were still serious limitations to the format at this early juncture. But the film-makers certainly had me fooled, because overall, the film is very polished (admittedly, I saw it on DVD). In fact, the 24p camera lends the film an atmosphere and lustre all its own, the immediacy, occasional (slight) blurring, and available light giving it the impression of really being shot on super-high quality home video, or through someone's own eyes. I think this film demonstrates much better than Sin City or Star Wars how cinema (particularly low-budget cinema) might benefit from the digital medium.The performances are also excellent. Peter Mullan conveys real desperation and madness as the increasingly disorientated Gordo (though he occasionally goes slightly OTT), while David Caruso, as Phil flailing against the tide as he tries to keep the imploding gang together, is especially good, communicating the working-man's tragedy on show here. On a basic wage, he has hitherto been sustained by camaraderie and beer, but both are in short supply at Danver's. If the film goes slightly off the rails, it's in the ending, which while it felt like a logical and effective conclusion to me, was unnecessarily complicated by the editing and tried too hard to come across as a 'twist', pandering to genre expectations. That aside though, this is intelligent and confident, proof that assured style, quality acting and mature direction can be far more haunting than any Saw or Hostel style wobbly-cams, blood-letting or shock effects.
At least in this movie, David Caruso isn't taking his sunglasses off, oh, so dramatically in every scene.
posted on 28 Apr 2009This one has everything: dangerous misrepresentations of the more violent forms of schizophrenia, the subtle nuances of the asbestos removal trade, the pain in the ass "barroom-intellectual" that won't bring his long winded topical anecdotes to an end without a twang or up beat in the films score character, and, of coarse, a lot of mullet jokes (we all saw that coming from the film's cover, didn't we?). From reading this, I don't want you to get the sense that I completely hated this one. It's not that at all. I'm simply saying that the Barney Miller marathon that's likely running on TV Land on any given weekend would be a pleasant alternative to watching it. Picture Psycho or Fight Club without the writers/directors/producers/anyone else trying to put clever, scary ideas into an already full medium, and add that god-awful fire crotch, Caruso, to the cast. That's pretty much it.
Mediocre at best
posted on 18 Apr 2009*****COMPLETE AND UTTER SPOILERS***** I like how many people these days search out independent films that are mediocre at best and name them the best films of all time. Even some movies that aren't independent movies, such as Identity, suffer the same problems. This movie is one of those movies that has problems, doesn't fully deliver, and still manages to get hordes of loyal fans that will call you stupid for not liking it.Let's start with the characters. None of them are particularly interesting nor is any of the writing. They're stilted. They use typical by-the-numbers dialogue that fills in back-story awkwardly. Example (from memory, mind you): "Hey, you were going to be a lawyer like your dad, weren't you? But you let him down, right? This guy is too smart to be here!" The only interesting characters are Phil and Gordon and even their stories are dumbed down by an ending meant to "thrill and shock!" because every movie these days needs a surprise ending.The pacing in this movie could've led to a good movie. Everything feels as if it's leading up to something better. People say these thrills are "psychological" despite the fact that there are no real scares that haven't been committed to film before. A guy walking in a hall in the dark being scared by a figure that the guy later thinks are birds is not original at all. Nor is the plot twist.*****SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE "IDENTITY"*****This is the same problem I had with "Identity". The ending feels tacked on. Nothing in the beginning even matters. All of the character development (as boring as the characters ultimately are) and story are thrown out in favor of the ol' reliable "multiple personality disorder". I kept dreading it when the movie started heading in that direction. I was saying to myself, "Don't let this be like Identity, don't let this be like Identity..." and of course, it ended that way. Not the same exact way, but similarly. The same potential for being a good movie ruined by the need to throw in the cliché'd insanity ending. The build-up to the surprise ending isn't even good on its own merits for being the whole selling point of the movie. It's slow and leads nowhere.*****SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE "IDENTITY"***** Is this considered intelligent these days? The entire movie is spelled out to you in the end. Nothing is left to the imagination. The viewer isn't allowed to decipher the movie's message because it does all the decoding for you, in an ending that takes at least ten minutes to finish explaining the surprise because apparently all of those "intelligent fans" can't figure it out on their own. This movie isn't new.There was so much room for improvement in this movie. One area I felt was just fine was the acting. Every actor in this movie did a good job even though at times it felt like they just plucked the cast of CSI (David Caruso and Paul Guilfoyle) and threw them in the movie, even though the movie was made before CSI: Miami.If you want to watch an actually intelligent thriller, watch Rear Window or Jacob's Ladder. They let the audience think for themselves unlike this sub par "thriller" where nothing is left to the imagination and everything is thrown away in favor of a surprise ending that ruins everything that has gone before it.
Gotta make some sense
posted on 08 Apr 2009Suspension of disbelief is necessary for most films. The issue is the degree.Too many problems in the script here. Several other people have noted them:1. Cleaning job size versus time constraint was ridiculous. Laughed at all the breaks they took nonetheless.2. No compelling reason for the bozo listening to the tapes to be doing so at the expense of #1 above.3. Caruso screaming for lead character to quit and take time off made no sense again due to #1 and it wasn't his company anyway.4. What really was the connection between the 2 stories? Wasn't supernatural so lead wasn't possessed. Lead never heard tapes so he wasn't affected by the woman.5. The character of the lead may have snapped and killed his family. That I could believe. But the character they developed seemed unlikely to go on and slaughter all the others, especially via pick thru brain.
a great minimalist horror film
posted on 06 Apr 2009It adds to the intrigue when going into a movie hearing both good reviews and bad--it really leaves the possibilities up in the air and makes you more at liberty to form your own opinion. Such was the case as I went into "Session 9," which is one of the most subtly creepy and frightening films to come down the pipeline in quite some time. A few weeks before seeing it, I was having a conversation about minimalist horror with some friends, and how the Hollywood formula of "gore = fright" is completely backwards. It isn't the over-the-top, but the implied, which fuels our everyday nightmares. And by not going the excessively gory route, director Brad Anderson ("The Machinist") has created a horror film that taps into things (fear of the dark; voices on an old reel-to-reel) and makes them the stuff of nightmares. The plot follows a team of asbestos workers cleaning out an abandoned asylum over the course of one week, where it becomes evident some ghosts are wandering the halls. The characters are well-defined, yet also shrouded in personal mystery that gives the story an extra richness--the blurred line between fantasy and reality and how it is perceived plays a major role in "Session 9," where the ending feels like less of a cheap twist and more like the natural escalation of storytelling for a change.Patient viewers with a taste for subtler, more traditional horror will not be disappointed.
Flawed but frightening thriller
posted on 04 Apr 2009SESSION 9 Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (HD Widescreen)Sound format: Dolby DigitalFive professional contractors are hired to strip asbestos from an abandoned asylum where they're haunted by the building's horrific legacy.Notable as the first 2.39:1 movie shot in high-definition video - the same process used by George Lucas for STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES the following year - SESSION 9 is described by director Brad Anderson as an exercise in 'creeping dread', filmed at the deserted Danvers Mental Institution in Massachusetts, whose crumbling interior suggests nothing less than the hellish Marsten House of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot'. Anderson favors long, deliberate camera movements and wide-angle shots which transform the Institute's vast empty spaces into an oppressive, tomb-like structure, using the widescreen format to impressive visual effect.A terrific ensemble cast is headlined by David Caruso (TV's "CSI: Miami") and Scottish actor-director Peter Mullan (MY NAME IS JOE), both of whom give committed performances as men on the edge of despair, and strong support is given by Josh Lucas (THE DEEP END), Brendan Sexton III (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE) and co-writer Steven Gevedon as the hapless co-worker who stumbles on a series of audio tapes which contain ultra-creepy psychiatric sessions involving a former patient suffering from split personality disorder. Memorable sequences include Lucas' unscheduled late-night visit to the Institute, where he finds himself sharing the darkness with... something that shouldn't be there; and the inevitable moment when Sexton - who had earlier declared his morbid fear of the dark - finds himself trapped in the bowels of the building just as the lights go out...Two endings were filmed, one of which involves a subplot that was dropped from the final assembly, but in truth, neither one of them lives up to expectations. The combination of tragedy and horror will still take many viewers by surprise, but one is left with the distinct impression that few of the participants were interested in making a REAL horror film, even if the movie ends up being one anyway, in spite of itself. Beautifully judged for the most part, and genuinely frightening in places, SESSION 9 is worth a look, despite minor reservations.
Holy ----, I almost wet myself.
posted on 13 Mar 2009I like going to scary movies. I enjoy the adrenaline rush. It's fun. This movie was fun until the last five minutes. Then it scared the ---- out of me. I don't think I can find the words to describe how this movie scared me: mind blowing, blood freezing, rectum clenching, etc... I don't know what it was that scared me so much. But honestly, I didn't even get an hour of sleep that night. Too afraid to roll over, to afraid to open my eyes, too afraid to close my eyes. I wouldn't even let my wife sleep near me. I was afraid she'd lobotomize me. These characters were too real. The story is too plausible. My mind is still reeling from the movie. As the credits were rolling, I tried to stand up. I was light headed and dizzy. My heart was beating like it had never done before. I tried to tell my wife about it, but I couldn't. It was too freakin' scary.I was completely sucked in by this movie. I can't say I loved it, but that's because I don't love seeing the things that I saw. It scared me more than I wanted to be. I do recommend this movie to people who have lost faith in the horror genre. No cheap thrills. Nobody jumping out from behind doors. No "horror movie rules". This is completely original. "The Shining"? "Rosemary's Baby"? "The Exorcist"? The equivalent of Saturday morning cartoons. If you want to be scared, watch "Session 9".
A true thriller
posted on 07 Mar 2009I started the movie expecting to be scared and I was. The movie takes on several elements, and despite some plot holes and the last half hour that seems to drag a little, it's one of the best horror films yet. The music really adds the essential touch, and the isolation makes even the tape recordings sound even scarier. There are some unresolved issues concerning the characters, but perhaps that is to be expected and left up to your imagination. The film is very creepy and slows down toward the end, intertwining significant details in the plot to relate the whole story and end on both a mysterious and chilling note. I recommend this to anyone, but be forewarned, it can be quite intense. Very good film. Even makes you look past the faults you noticed while first watching. 10/10
Damn a great film/movie
posted on 06 Aug 2009I would just like to say a few words about this film. Weird in a cool fashion way. Strange in a pshykotic way.And damn its a weird story, but i like it, i like it much, actually very much. i was at home, the clock was 03.10, i was bored, and looked at my computer, and then i saw the film, i was not scared much, a little bit maybe, when the one person is walking around in the sewers alone. damn i was scared actually hehe :)Well i decided to give this film 9 points, like it or not, good luck :)