Session 9

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Session 9
Promotional poster for Session 9
Directed by	Brad Anderson
Produced by	John Sloss, Dorothy Aufiero, David Collins, Michael Williams
Written by	Brad Anderson, Stephen Gevedon
Starring	David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Paul Guilfoyle, Josh Lucas, Peter Mullan. Brendan Sexton III
Music by	Climax Golden Twins
Cinematography	Uta Briesewitz
Editing by	Brad Anderson
Distributed by	USA Films
Release date(s)	2001
Running time	97 min (USA)
Country	USA
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Session 9 is a 2001 horror film directed by Brad Anderson. The film is set in and around the Danvers State Mental Hospital. Five asbestos removers led by Gordon (Peter Mullan) and Phil (David Caruso) arrive at the asylum to try to complete an Asbestos abatement job in only five days. As the days progress, each man begins to crack under the strain of the harsh deadline and unnerving environment. Additionally, their distrust of each other is balanced by the increasing feeling that something is evil in the building. The film is softly paced and slowly reveals the psychology of the men whilst testing their relationships.

[edit] Plot summary

Danvers State Hospital has been closed since 1985. Gordon, the owner of an asbestos stripping business, accepts the job to remove the asbestos, ambitiously claiming he can clear the building of toxic materials in just one week in order to get the contract; he is in desperate need of money. Gordon is also a new father; with the stress of work and the fatigue of fatherhood, he has recently argued with his wife Wendy. As Gordon initially examines the hospital, he comes along a creepy hallway, empty except for a broken wheelchair sitting in the middle. He zones out a little and thinks he hears a deep, creepy voice say, "Hello... Gordon." Someone else calls Gordon's name, and he snaps out of his daze.

Mike, played by Stephen Gevedon (who is also the film's screen writer) had intended to become a lawyer but dropped out of law school. While checking on an electrical problem, he discovers a box labeled "evidence." Inside, he finds a collection of taped interviews with a former patient marked as "Session 1" through "Session 9." In between working, he listens to the interviews. Each session delves deeper into the former patient's multiple personalities. Most of the personalities seem harmless and child-like, but they each refer to another personality named Simon, someone they don't want to talk about. Throughout the sessions, it is revealed that something terrible happened involving a knife and a China doll one Christmas in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Phil (David Caruso), Gordon's second in command, has lost his love for the job after his long-term girlfriend left him for Hank (Josh Lucas), another team member. Hank antagonizes him about this continually.

Hank dreams of hitting the big time and wants to leave his job for casino school. While working he finds a hidden stash of coins and personal artifacts that have been hidden away since the asylum closed. Hank, unaware that the items came from the furnace in the morgue, returns late one night to steal these artifacts - one of which is a lobotomy pick. While taking the items, Hank is attacked by a mysterious figure and disappears.

Gordon's nephew Jeff (Brendan Sexton III) is the youngest of the crew, just out of adolescence. His clowning around mostly amuses the other workers, although a joking reference to the practice of prefrontal lobotomy brings a strong reaction from Mike. Jeff admits to having severe nyctophobia.

When Hank disappears, it is assumed that he has abandoned the job or perhaps he won on a scratch ticket. Gordon, however, believes Phil may have murdered him for taking away his girlfriend. Hank, however, is soon found, wounded and only able to mutter, "What are you doing here?" He vanishes again and the workers split up to find him. Phil, angered by Gordon's distrust, reveals to Mike that Gordon is in an overly stressed state. Gordon finds a room in the asylum with pictures of his wife and child affixed to the walll, some covered with blood and is confronted by Phil. Gordon begins to hallucinate about finding his colleagues murdered. Gordon believes it was Phil, who appears to Gordon asking him to "wake up." Phil, in fact, is only another hallucination here and Gordon seems to finally understand what has happened and that he has killed his friends. Even so, when Hank's replacement arrives for work, Gordon kills him too.

It is revealed that after his initial inspection of the hospital (when he encountered the empty wheelchair), Gordon had gone home and murdered his wife and newborn baby daughter after being splashed with boiling water. It's also revealed that he had imagined the whole "fight" with his wife, and that he had also murdered all of his colleagues in succession. As the film ends, the final recording of the former patient's therapy session, number 9, is heard. Simon, her evil personality, finally speaks. He reveals that Mary murdered her brother after he scared her, then proceeded to kill the rest of her family. The doctor asks: "And where do you live, Simon?" In the same voice that Gordon heard in the wheelchair room, we hear Simon say, "I live in the weak and the wounded, Doc."