Session 9 (2001)

Director: Brad Anderson

Starring: Peter Mullan, David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Paul Guilfoyle, Josh Lucas

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Fear Is A Place.

Plot: 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.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? You betcha!


OK, so all of this talk of bad or really slow pacing forces me to cover a film that I saw a few months ago for probably the sixth or seventh time. SESSION 9 is a slow burn but that slow crawl works to the film's advantage. No spoilers here but the ending delivers a solid blow that made me watch it a second time and with that second viewing I discovered more layers to the story and its execution that has kept me coming back to it again and again.


There's certainly more to this than you'll initially see, if you haven't already, and I'm not talking about some M. Night Shayamalan, he's been dead the whole time kind of twist that has you re-examining everything. You'll know what I mean if you are patient enough to give this disc a spin. It was one of those nice discoveries you find on the now-dwindling DVD shelves that paid off in spades.


I've nearly seen it once a year since 2002 and it's one of the few films that calls me back to it on a regular basis. The performances are solid and earnest, the music works and it's the unseen but heard horrors that will get under your skin...if you let it.