Session 9 Blu-ray Review

Simon says.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, September 13, 2016

It's a good thing that co-writer and director Brad Anderson admits that The Shining bears certain similarities if not outright inspirational sparks for, for the parallels between the films are obvious and almost palpable at times. Decaying monstrosity of a building in an isolated location? Check. Chances that said building is haunted by former denizens? Check. Seemingly mild manneredtype probably going over to the dark side due to those very denizens?In this case,actually utilizes a real life historical structure, the imposing Danvers State Insane Asylum (which had a number of slightly variant names through the years) in Danvers, Massachusetts, unlike the fictional Overlook Hotel in the Stephen King saga (though fans of the film will know that my home state of Oregon's iconic Timberline Lodge was used for exterior locations for that version). Danvers has a rather redolent if disturbing history tracing back to the 19th century, and it's rumored to have been the birthplace of the pre-frontal lobotomy, but as someone who had to investigate the history of lobotomies as part of my research into actress Frances Farmer (who was falsely rumored to have undergone a transorbital lobotomy), I can say that that allegation is at least debatable. One way or the other, the Danvers (which was torn down a few years afterwas filmed there in its decaying ruins) provides a spectacularly Gothic setting for this often unsettling film, one which is rather short on any gore factor but which rather smartly exploits a properly psychological angle that is filled to the brim with foreboding and angst. Aside from one really curious and completely avoidable semi-reveal early in the film, one which will give away the ghost (so to speak) to anyone who's really paying attention,builds to a nicely baroque climax where indeed at least a bit of a gore factor finally intrudes.Gordon (Peter Mullan) and Phil (David Caruso) are co-workers at an abestos abatement company that is bidding on such a service for the Danvers Mental Hospital. As the film opens, the two are in a van awaiting the arrival of a site foreman, and the two are discussing the recent birth of Gordon's baby, something that is both a joy and a challenge (as any parent of a newborn will attest). There's a bit of tension between Gordon and Phil that is evidenced in how they approach the bid, but it's obvious that Gordon is the big kahuna, and in a private moment with the hospital site superintendent (whom he evidently knows), he basically begs for the contract. The film then gets into a day by day assessment (shades ofagain) of the asbestos abatement team's "progress" at the hospital. Meanwhile, a very brief sequence detailing Gordon's home life with his wife and newborn baby seems to suggest all is not domestic bliss.The other team members include Gordon's slacker nephew Jeff (Brendan Sexton III), who has a debilitating fear of the dark (think that might play into the plot?), Mike (Stephen Gevedon, also a co-writer) who was once a promising law student and whose Attorney General father once was involved in a notorious case involving Danvers, and Hank (Josh Lucas), who has an acrimonious relationship with Phil due to having "stolen" Phil's girlfriend from him sometime in the past. All of these details are doled out rather artfully, often in very brief but telling asides that quickly give the viewer context and a nice feel for how the guys interact with each other.While Kubrick's film of King's novel is sometimes decried for being too languid in some ways and then too gonzo in others, there's a rather steady pace throughoutthat actually hints at terror rather than revealing it outright. There'ssinister going on in the dank (asbestos incrusted) hallways of Danvers, but it's not clear what exactly there is to fear. Mike gets detoured when he goes to investigate a circuit breaker tripping (cue creepy music) and finds an old storeroom where an evidence box contains tapes of a long ago patient who evidently suffered from multiple personality disorder. The film's title in fact is culled from the series of tapes of "sessions" with the hospital's psychiatrist that are memorialized on the quaint old reel to reel tapes.Meanwhile, though, a number of other bizarre happenings have been cropping up. Hank finds his own detour when a series of valuable old coins he discovers on a basement floor lead to a wallfull of them (a wall which backs to a creepy locale reveal which won't be spoiled here). Gordon seems to be hearing voices, voices who know his name. And Jeff, well, is afraid of the dark. With some nicely orchestrated tracking and dolly shots (the camera work is fairly peripatetic throughout the film),builds suspense in little increments rather than in huge swooping startle shots.The film does ultimately go for the jugular, so to speak, but rather late in the game, after a full gamut of mind games has unfolded. The ultimate reveal here is really no huge surprise, especially due to that aforementioned early reveal, not to mention a couple of others that Anderson at least attempts to cloak in blink or you'll miss them montages. That tricky style gambit might have been better left on the cutting room floor, for without these little "clues" sprinkled throughout the film,might have even increased its already palpable creepiness. While I'm not sure a rigorously logical analysis of this film's finer plot points is really possible,'s mood is nicely oppressive, and the Danvers State Insane Asylum is a wonderful supporting character in its own right.