Tuesday 25 October 2011

Session 9

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:2001
Country of origin:USA
Director:Brad Anderson
Genre:Multiple personalities
Starring:David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Paul Guilfoyle
Rating:4/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261983/
Tagline:Fear Is A Place.
Favourite line:Doctor: "And where do you live, Simon?" Mary : "I live in the weak and the wounded"

Intense and disturbing psychological horror that has the feel of a British movie somehow, even though it's American.

Set in an abandoned mental institution, a team of asbestos removal men move in to cleanse the building. One of the individuals finds a set of old tape recordings of an interview conducted by a psychiatrist on a patient who suffered from multiple personality disorder. He quickly becomes obsessed, taking every opportunity to listen through the lot, right up to Session 9.
At the same time, the leader of the workers is fighting his own personal demons, as he has commited an act of violence against his own closest family.

Claustrophobic throughout - the last 30 minutes is literally nerve shredding - this manages to convey what the BBFC would refer to as 'sustained menace' without spraying gallons of blood around or, with the exception of a brief section towards the end, showing a single moment of violence.
The direction is excellent, reminding me very much of Ridley Scott's use of camerawork in the original Alien movie, though clearly the content here is totally different.
The acting is way above average for horror fare too, which is a plus, and the building used as the location is nothing short of terrifying.
Subtle, yet exhausting, this one will haunt you for quite a while.
This would have got top marks but for the unnecessarily slow build up at the start.
Overall, a quality horror movie.

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