Session 9

This is one of those movies where it gives with the left hand and takes with the right at the same time, leaving a movie very much stuck in mediocrity. On the one hand, this is shot all on location, and it is an absolutely amazing location movie. It was shot at the real life Danvers State Hospital, a derelict former mental asylum. The peeling paint and the decaying structure contrasted with the gothic but still institutional appearance outside, as well as its history, lend such a flair to the visuals here. There isn't the need for set dressing or camera trickery or special effects spookums to make the place feel haunted. On the other hand, the direction of this movie is atrocious, in multiple ways. The movie was on of the first filmed on 24p HD digital video, which shoots at a 24-frames-per-second rate rather than the standard digital video frame rate of 30 fps. The result is a movie that has an unnatural, uncanny valley movement, and colors look far too vibrant for the setting and atmosphere. Even if it were shot with standard-for-the-time equipment, it would still trip over the hurdle of the direction. The movie was the first for director Brad Anderson, and it shows with his shot composition and selection. Framing, movement, angles, close-ups, it often feels like what it is: a rookie going "uh, yeah, sure, I guess that works" through a production. I had to check a couple times during the watch to make sure this wasn't a made-for-Canadian-TV movie, because there was just something about it that felt off. On the one hand, the actors all do a good job, and are given characters that don't feel like meat puppets waiting to be slaughtered. Every character has enough flavor to them to feel distinct; Gordon is the proud owner of the business, struggling with some personal issues, but refusing to compromise on how he runs his business. Phil is the headstrong lieutenant that's a bit antagonistic towards, well, most things. Mike is a law-school drop-out, very well educated and way too smart to be on an asbestos removal crew. Hank is a cut-every-corner pot-stirrer. Jeff is new to the crew and a kid. On the other hand, these characters have little to no role in the actual story of the movie. Mike's wasted-in-this-job knowledge base literally exists to be an exposition machine, despite his exposition being only tangentially related to the legal world. The tensions between Mike and Hank (a woman) play little to no role in the story. Gordon's desperation about his business only plays a part in getting the job and no more; it didn't need to be in the movie. Jeff's rookie status doesn't matter at all. The movie sets up these roles and does nothing with them, which begs the question of why give these guys depth at all. On the one hand, the movie drips with atmosphere and slow-build tension. The creepy setting is one thing, but then Mike finds session tapes and files from a patient in the hospital, Mary Hobbes, who developed multiple personality disorder in response to a family tragedy. Mike listens to these tapes one at a time on breaks, revealing more about her unraveling sanity, as tensions in the group boil over. On the other hand, the movie only suggests a connection between Mary Hobbes and what's going on with the group, and does so literally in the last minute. It feels shoehorned in, and passively suggests something supernatural is going on when that was never on the table to begin with. Worse yet is that this drive-by attempt to tie the threads together ignores the timeline the movie deliberately illustrates, leaving a huge plot hole that cannot be reconciled. The screenwriters had the story and a twist, but didn't recognize the twist didn't work with the story. It leaves the whole movie feeling somewhat hollow, like it was made up on the fly. What it does right, it does really right. For me, though, it did enough things wrong, and in devastating ways, that it balanced the scales for me. I wasn't bored, but I was left wanting more. I felt the tension and liked the direction it was going in, but I didn't get the payoff and the destination felt like a bait-and-switch. So, while I can see how this appears on lists of hidden horror gems and overlooked and underrated movies, I can also see why no one remembers it.