SESSION 9 (2001) As good as any "quiet" horror movie As an exercise in pure mood, it's hard to beat most of Session 9. The ending does not convince me; it's not enough of a failing to put me off the movie, but it doesn't much feel right to me. Still, man, if you're looking for a creepy mood piece, you've come to the right place. Session 9 features an asbestos-removal team doin' their thing at this huge, abandoned mental institution which was apparently designed with enough creep-factor in mind that the architect actually made the building bat-shaped. David Caruso plays the (relative) calm center of the team, who doesn't seem to have the baggage or the assholery of other members. However, one of the other guys on the team is currently sleeping with his ex, and likes to brag about it. If there's a more sure-fire way to cause tension in the workplace, I can't think of it. Other workers include cowriter Steven Gevedon who dropped out of law school for unstated reasons, Josh Lucas who's banging the ex, Peter Mullan who runs the operation and doesn't want anybody to know that the very existence of his company hinges on this job, and Brendon Sexton III, the new kid. Brendon Sexton: my sincere advice to you is to drop the "III". There really isn't a heck of a lot of plot here, at least not plot in the sense of anything being relevant to how things turn out. It's all about furthering that creepy mood. An old tape recorder is found, featuring eerily mesmerizing accounts of all sorts of ghastly stuff that went down in the institution. There's buried treasure, found by the last guy you'd trust with buried treasure. Rumors of what once happened at the institution, hints of problems a home...this movie doesn't spell a lot of things out, and if it leaves a LOT of questions unanswered, at least they're questions which don't really need answers. For that matter, it's the very mystery of these little, seemingly almost irrelevant (I said seemingly, and almost) things which help make for that gloriously creepy mood. Is the thing with the light bulbs bad writing (basic electronics) or a hinted-at supernatural element? Probably the former, but it was still a good scene. Despite a "zoomed-in" feel to the shots which remind me of how much I hate pan n' scan, the movie looks great. Shot on digital, from what I hear, leading me to wonder what's the big, scary deal about digital? It was filmed in and around a real mental hospital about which some of the things you hear in this movie have been rumoured; just how much it was "dressed up" to look as spooky as it does here, I couldn't tell you. Still, there's that ending which...I dunno, it just didn't do it for me. A movie which is all about mood and creepiness for 90% of its length probably shouldn't suddenly turn into a bloodbath. Maybe it's just me. But overall, this movie is sure as hell good enough to recommend. Directed and cowritten by chick-flick grad Brad Anderson. It's like he's Steve Miner in reverse. But, y'know, way better. BACK TO THE S's BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE