Session 9 (2001)
Starring Peter Mullan and David Caruso.
Directed by Brad Anderson.
Kilgore rates it: 4 (out of 10)

Session 9 is set in Danvers State Hospital, an defunct mental health facility in Massachusetts. This is the main reason I rented it -- what better possible setting for a horror movie than a 130-year-old abandoned insane asylum, with its crumbling catacombs and antiquated medical equipment?

Unfortunately, Session 9 squanders this opportunity, mostly through its shoddy writing. The story concerns a group of hazmat workers under contract to remove asbestos in preparation for the hospital's renovation. The creepy environment affects each in a different way, and when the bodies start to hit the floor, we are left to wonder who-or what?-dunit. The answer, a nonsensical disappointment with a cheap twist, has nothing to do with the hospital. Several times, the director creates extended moments of genuine suspense -- I found myself coiling in my chair, steeling myself for the scare -- only to let those moments dissipate without satisfaction. Overall, Session 9 is a wannabe horror movie and a waste of a great location.

+posted by Lawrence @ 12/27/2003 06:47:00 PM