Session 9

Plot

Gordon Fleming, the owner of an asbestos abatement company in Massachusetts, makes a bid to remove asbestos from Danvers State Hospital. Desperate for money, he promises to complete the job in only one week, even though a work of this scale would normally require two to three weeks. His crew includes Mike, a law school dropout knowledgeable about the asylum's history; Phil, who is dealing with his grief over a recent breakup; Hank, a gambling addict; and Gordon's nephew Jeff, who has a pathological fear of the dark.

While surveying the job site, Gordon hears a disembodied voice that greets him by name. The men begin their job. Mike discovers a box containing nine audio-taped therapy sessions with Mary Hobbes, a former patient with dissociative identity disorder. Mike listens to the tapes in the ensuing days. In the sessions, Mary's psychologist attempts to unveil details surrounding a crime she committed at her home. Mary exhibits numerous personalities with unique voices and demeanors.

Meanwhile, Hank discovers a cache of antique silver dollar coins and other valuables from the crematory in the hospital's labyrinthine basement. Late that night, he returns to the hospital to retrieve the items and discovers a lobotomy pick among them. He becomes frightened by noises and a shadowy figure, and is confronted by an unknown assailant.

When Hank fails to show up to work the next day, Craig McManus is hired to take his place. Gordon confides in Phil that he slapped his wife Wendy after she inadvertently splashed him with boiling water. Afterward, she refused to answer his calls or let him see their infant daughter. In a stairwell in the hospital, Jeff witnesses Hank staring out a window wearing sunglasses, talking to himself.

Hank goes missing and the men split up to search for him, but Mike is compelled to continue listening to the tapes. Jeff and Phil descend into the tunnels beneath the hospital, where Phil finds Hank, half-nude, muttering to himself. The generator runs out of fuel, leaving a terrified Jeff trapped in darkness. Mike restores the electricity and continues listening to the ninth and final tape, which reveals that one of Mary's malignant personalities, "Simon", was responsible for her murdering her family. Phil finds Gordon in Mary's former hospital room, staring at photos from his daughter's baptism which he has pasted to the wall. Jeff emerges from the tunnels and is attacked by an unseen assailant at the company van.

Interpretations

In reviewing the film for the 2003 edition of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Edward Bryant contends that Simon is not necessarily an alternate personality of the former patient Mary, but rather a malevolent genius loci. He also points out that the deleted scenes included on the DVD help fill out the narrative. Several critics have also pointed out similarities and references to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980), which also deals with similar themes and involves a man's psychological unraveling in an isolated location.

Brian Keiper, writing for Bloody Disgusting, notes that "the real stories of Danvers are woven into the fabric of Session 9's plot, giving a sense of semi-documentary to elements of the proceedings. Though only tangential to the plot, Mike’s story of Patricia Willard (a fictional story created to illustrate a real trend) makes an important thematic point. It deals with the controversial subject of Satanic Ritual Abuse, the retrieval of repressed memories, and the questionable credibility surrounding such stories and practices." Keiper interprets the film's conclusion as intentionally ambiguous, rendering it unclear as to whether Gordon's deteriorating mental state and crimes are the result of a psychological disorder, or a demonic entity—the same entity that may have possessed Mary—utilizing him as a host. Psychiatry scholar Heike Schwarz echoes this sentiment, noting that the film contains dual interpretations, referring to "DID and a possible possession with a demonic personality".

Production

Development

Session 9 was director Brad Anderson's first horror film, after directing two romantic comedy films, Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Happy Accidents (2000). Anderson described Session 9 as an "American tragedy", and states that he and screenwriter Stephen Gevedon aimed "to subvert the conventions of the so-called horror genre that exists now", which he describes as "less horror than it is teen thriller."

The film's plot was inspired by the Richard Rosenthal case, a murder that took place in Boston, where Anderson grew up, in 1995, in which Rosenthal murdered his wife after she accidentally burnt his dinner, then cut out her heart and lungs and put them in his backyard on a stake. Anderson states that it was also, "as you imagine, very much inspired by the location", the Danvers State Psychiatric Hospital. Anderson had been residing in Boston in the late 1990s, and would frequently drive past the Danvers State Hospital: "When Steve and I were first brainstorming, we didn't have the framework of what we wanted to hang our horror film on. But then I remembered Danvers, and we thought it’d be cool to set a story [there], for a number of reasons. It would be contained, for one thing, and it would be maybe even more practical in terms of actually doing it, because we could keep it all in one location."

Don't Look Now, directed by Nicolas Roeg, was one inspiration for the film, for its sense of place and because the lead character realizes in the climax that he is at the heart of the mystery. Anderson also cited The Shining (1980) as an influence, specifically in the screenplay's sectioning of events by days of the week. Anderson has stated that he aimed to use sound to convey the plot as well as to generate "a creepy tone"; the sound design incorporated the subliminal use of animal and mechanical noises.

After pitching the project to USA Films, the studio agreed to distribute the film, with a production budget of approximately $1.5 million.

Casting

Anderson cast Peter Mullan in the lead role of Gordon, and had been a longtime admirer of his after seeing his performance in My Name Is Joe (1998). He also said that he felt that audiences "would be able to relate to him as a hard working blue-collar man with a new family." Josh Lucas was cast as Hank after auditioning for the part, and later commented that he was drawn to playing the character because he was "a working class asshole... he was just a prick, and it was terrific fun to play him that way." David Caruso was cast in the film at the suggestion of USA Films executives, who had a working relationship with him. Anderson commented that while Caruso was an "offbeat choice" for his role, the "combination felt very real to me—a little real because it wasn't predictable."

Brendan Sexton III was cast as Jeff, Gordon's nephew, based on the filmmakers' admiration of his performance in Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995). Larry Fessenden, an acquaintance of Anderson's, was given a minor role as Craig McManus, a replacement worker hired on the crew.

To prepare for their roles, as well as the potential exposure risks while filming in the hospital, the principal cast members went through asbestos abatement training.

Filming

Principal photography of Session 9 began in mid-September 2000 on location at the dilapidated Danvers State Hospital, where the film is set. According to actor David Caruso, the cast and crew were limited to only certain portions of the building as much of it was "unsafe" for shooting. Caruso claimed the sets largely did not need to be dressed as all the props featured in the film were already existing in the building. Elaborating, Caruso said:

It was a place you never got comfortable in. It wasn't like day three and we were throwing water balloons because it was so much fun to be there. It was always scary. You can really feel the pain of the people that went through Danvers. It's a rough environment. It's not fun. It's on the film. They didn't have to dress any sets, or anything. All of that stuff was sitting there. The federal government walked away from it about thirty years ago. It was a terrifying location.

Gevedon recalled that, "technically, no one was supposed to be in there. There was asbestos, the floors were collapsing, there were rusty pipes and lead paint everywhere. I mean, it was a disaster zone, much of that building. But somehow, I can't remember, our producers knew someone in the Massachusetts film office who knew someone in the Massachusetts government who was able to grease some wheels and get us permission to shoot there, as long as we stayed within certain confined areas."

Anderson stated that the majority of the set dressing consisted of "enhancing what was already there." The production designers made some slight additions, such as graffiti, as well as creating the collages covering the walls of Mary Hobbes's former room, which were inspired by similar patients' collages that the crew had found in the building. Crew members recalled occasionally finding medical tissue and blood samples in the building that had been left behind after the hospital's closure.

Session 9 was one of the first motion pictures to be shot in 24p HD digital video, which shoots at 24 frames-per-second like film, as opposed to regular digital video which shoots at 30 frames-per-second. The film was shot by German cinematographer Uta Briesewitz.

While filming the sequence in which Hank is pursued by a figure in the subterranean tunnels beneath the hospital, Briesewitz—who was operating a handheld camera—was injured after running into a medical cart that had been abandoned in the tunnel, striking her face on the metal prong of a surgical device. The prong punctured the camera's eyecup and punctured the corner of her eye socket, nearly piercing her eye. The injury paralleled the Hank character's eventual demise by a transorbital lobotomy, in which a lobotomy pick is forced into his eye socket.

Post-production

The majority of the film's post-production process involved the recording of the session tapes between Mary Hobbes (voiced by Jurian Hughes) and her doctor (voiced by Lonnie Farmer), as well as crafting soundscapes to accompany the film.

Following test screenings for the film, Anderson excised several sequences in which it is revealed that a homeless woman squatting in the hospital could be the potential source for the strange occurrences experienced by the crew working there. In the film's finale, the woman, after fearfully witnessing Gordon murder each member of his crew, confronts him in Mary Hobbes's cell and bludgeons him to death with a flashlight. Anderson described this as a "misdirect," and chose to remove it as audience members incorrectly assumed the character to be Mary Hobbes.

Soundtrack

The original score to Session 9 was composed by the Seattle-based experimental band Climax Golden Twins. The score features elements of ambient and dark ambient music. The soundtrack was released on August 21, 2001, through Milan Records. "Chokechain" by Sentridoh is played over the closing credits of the film, but is not featured on the album.

Track listing

Release

Session 9 premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 31, 2001. The film opened in Boston, Massachusetts at the Loews Common Theatre on August 8, 2001. It was given a limited theatrical release two days later on August 10, playing in Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles before expanding over the Labor Day weekend. It ended its American theatrical run on October 18, 2001.

Home media

USA Films and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released VHS and DVD editions of Session 9 on February 26, 2002. A Blu-ray edition was released in August 2016 by Scream Factory. In the United Kingdom, a limited edition Blu-ray set was released by Second Sight Films on December 27, 2021.

Reception

Box office

Session 9 earned $76,493 during its opening weekend, screening in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York City. The film eventually went on to gross a total of $378,176 in the United States. The film was a greater financial success abroad, earning $1.2 million in international markets.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of 75 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Relying more on atmosphere than gore, Session 9 is effectively creepy." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Some critics praised the film's dark, eerie atmosphere and lack of gore. Entertainment Weekly called the film "a marvel of vérité nightmare atmosphere". Rolling Stone called it "a spine-tingler", and praised Brad Anderson's direction. Slant Magazine favorably compared it to the 1973 film Don't Look Now, writing, "Anderson's creeper is nowhere near as profound, but the film's old-fashioned pacing and revelatory camerawork bring to mind [Nicolas] Roeg's uniquely terrifying dreamworlds." Ron Wells of Film Threat praised the film's atmosphere and found it effectively frightening, awarding it four out of five stars.

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times said of the film: "Session 9 is so effective that its sense of uncertainty lingers long after the theater lights have gone up." Jeffrey M. Anderson of the San Francisco Examiner praised the film's psychological elements, noting: "The horrors in Session 9 are all internal—there are no ghosts or zombies or chainsaw-wielding maniacs, just shadows, strange images and half-seen clues." The Edmonton Journal's Todd Babiak similarly praised the film's sparse storytelling, writing: "Since the script never tries to explain all the evil in the universe, we don't have to endure weak and unsuccessful histories or philosophies. Instead, we get a small pocket of devilry that might just leap off the screen and infect us." Susanna Sonnenberg of the Missoulian found the film's characters well-written and realistic, adding that the screenplay's structure effectively "relies on what is suggested rather than presented, a sense of what might be there but isn't certain."

Some reviewers criticized the film's ending. A negative review came from Variety's Robert Koehler, who wrote, "while pic works up a nervously eerie paranoia, it finally doesn't know what to do with what it sets up." Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle felt that "the story doesn't quite pay off, the characters are underwritten and the surprise ending is contrived and unconvincing." The Village Voice's Amy Taubin wrote, "the script for Session 9 is so underwritten that even such lively character actors as David Caruso, Peter Mullan and Brendan Sexton III are left stranded." The Boston Globe's Jay Carr similarly panned the film, writing that, as it progresses into its final act, "the store of ominousness shrinks and gives way to silliness, leaving some talented actors high and dry. As if cursed, Session 9 becomes glossy claptrap that plays like its own lobotomy."

Modern appraisal

Session 9 developed a cult following in the years after its original release, mainly through DVD rentals and word of mouth. Bloody Disgusting ranked the film fifth in its list of the twenty best horror films of the 2000s, writing, "Session 9 isn't just a cheap, hack 'n' slash, instantly-forgettable type horror film, but a psychologically probing, deeply unsettling journey off the edge and into the abyss of the human mind." Brian Keiper, also writing for Bloody Disgusting, hailed it as "one of the most unsettling movies of the century so far." Actor Jim Cummings cited it as one of his favorite films in a 2020 interview with Entertainment Weekly, commenting: "There’s a 45-minute chunk in that film that is actually the most frightening thing I've ever seen. There’s this terrifying spooky inevitability in the film."

By 2021 it had been picked up for streaming by Netflix, and in its 20th anniversary year was screened at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. In a retrospectives for its twentieth anniversary, Marisa Mirabel of /Film called it an "underrated gem [that] was ahead of its time in terms of atmospheric and psychological horror." Also in 2021, Rolling Stone Australia ranked it number 47 in a list of the 65 best horror films of the 21st century.

Writer John Kenneth Muir praised the film in his book Horror Films of 2000–2009 (2023), writing: "Session 9 is a resourceful and careful film. It's a masterpiece of mood too; a low-budget horror film that succeeds by suggesting, not showing the forces at work in the characters. And the setting itself—especially the Psych Wing—is utterly terrifying."

Related works

Proposed prequel

It was reported in August 2021 that Anderson and Gevedon had pitched a prequel to the film in 2020, which followed the Mary Hobbes character. However, the film's rights holder, Focus Features—a subsidiary of Universal Pictures—who had acquired USA Films shortly after the film's release, would not allow it. Anderson commented:

We did a lot of work on it, but this is how it went down: we did it before we talked to the powers-that-be at Focus, which now owns the intellectual property for Session 9, whether they knew it or not at the time. We wrote a pretty solid treatment for the script and were really excited about it. We had some producers that were really interested in doing it, and even financing it... Next thing you know we get the calls from the [Focus Features'] lawyer saying, "Well, you can't do that. We own that property, and we don't normally allow filmmakers to make sequels or prequels to our movies." And were like, "Well, we made the movie, you know what I mean? We just want to make a cool film based on the movie that you made with us, like, 18 years ago." And what it boiled down to was that, on purely legal terms, they just decided they didn't want to move forward with it.

Novelization

On October 4, 2024, an official novelization of the film by writer Christian Francis was published through Echo On Publications.