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| Film vitals |
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· Year: 2001
· Director: Brad Anderson
· Writers: Brad Anderson, Stephen Gevedon
· Cast: David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon
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| Series info |
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| Information |
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· Filmed at the actual Danvers State Hospital at the intersection of US Rt. 1 and State Rt. 62 in Danvers, MA.
· Interestingly, the Massachusetts government is interested in redeveloping Danvers State Hospital, something that mirrors the setup of the movie. Check out the official Request for Proposals here (PDF file).
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Amazon.com
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| Synopsis |
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An asbestos removal team hired to work in an abandoned mental asylum begins to fall victim to psychological terror.
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RATING
Out of 100 |
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82
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| COLD ANALYSIS |
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ATMOSPHERE
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GORE
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HUMOR
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SCARES
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TENSION
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Abandoned buildings have always fascinated me. Perhaps it's the lost lives and the only barely vanished emotions that the fallen chairs and broken glass represent. Perhaps it's the idea that a building constructed only decades before can be so oppressive first through human action, then through human neglect. Perhaps it's just the atmosphere of the buildings, the unsettling stillness of beams of dusty sunshine bestowing dead light on ruined furniture and peeling walls.
Session 9 often eschews enhancing the atmosphere of its setting, the abandoned Danvers State Hospital, through camera tricks, long takes, or melodic music. Director Brad Anderson merely seems to have faith that the building itself will be capable of infusing the film with the creepy ambiance it needs to work. By and large, his trust is rewarded; the Danvers of Session 9 is imposing, dripping with hints of a corrupt past and defiled identity. The dialogue, which never sounds overly expository, offers us hints at the hospital's well-meaning but disturbing past; tales of misguided attempts at advanced therapy as late as the 1980s are just enough to solidify the tone. In fact, everything in the film is meant to advance the plot while twisting the atmosphere, from little set details like the meathooks in the kitchen to a subplot about old coins that reaches a horrifying climax.
Throughout the film, the tension grabs and releases, pulsing, like a fist opening and closing. The story constantly moves in unexpected directions, both inspired by and reflecting the forays the characters make throughout the hospital. Though the characters' motivations are murkier than they should be, the actors are adept at their roles, and only rarely does the film have the characters descending into Blair Witch-style screaming flights through darkened corridors. No matter what the situation, Anderson uses the setting so well that every action the characters make puts them at risk of reprisal from each other, from the weakened structure of the building itself, and maybe--maybe--from the ghosts of the place's past.
In Bag of Bones, Stephen King asked "What if death drives us insane? What if we survive, but it drives us insane?" One of the questions Session 9 poses to us is What would happen to supposedly sane people in a place soaking in a hundred years' worth of insanity? The ending of the film, while not entirely satisfying, is commendable in the way it leaves a lot of room for interpretation as to who did what, why they did it, and how much of an effect the hospital had on them. Was it preexisting madness? An insanity engendered by the hospital? Ghostly possession? Demonic interference? To what degree, and when did it start? Hints and suggestions abound, but Session 9 leaves all of its mysteries to us to decipher.
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