Customer Reviews

Session 9 [Import]

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

From start to finish, I really could not stand this movie. It was amazingly predictable and the acting was horrible. I was never a big David Caruso fan before, but this movie made me like him that much less. A shoddy performance in a shoddy film to be sure.

This movie had a good idea and concept, but it didn't try hard enough. I don't get where the Blair Witch comparison comes in...maybe it was a marketing scheme.

All in all, a general waste of time. When the closing credits started to roll, I yearned to have the previous hour and a half of my life back.

This movie is really boring. It's not good on atmophere, it has lousy acting, and terrible script and well this movies reeks on all levels. It is almost as dumb as Jack-O. This is not worth seeing, buying, or renting. You'll be a better person for not seeing this movie. Trust me you're not missing anything. Go back to the slasher flicks, because they are even more interesting than this moad of ...! Even Faust is a better choice than this load of filth!

About ten minutes into Session 9, I was completely prepared to love this movie. The setting, an old, empty insane asylum with its own morgue and cemetary, was creepy as hell; and the premise about a cleanup crew hired to eliminate asbestos tiles and other toxic materials had real potential. Also, the characters and the acting were above average for a modern horror flick. For these reasons, I give the movie three stars.

The problem with this movie is, it never quite delivers on what the first few minutes promises you. This asylum offers a lot of scare potential that the movie doesn't take advantage of. And I really don't mind a scary movie starting slow, but Session 9 STAYS slow. It doesn't pick up the pace until the last fifteen minutes or so...and the ending, designed to be a shocking twist, just isn't.

So, bottom line: if you're a hardcore horror fan, check this one out. It might work better for you than it did for me. Other movie viewers should probably steer clear.

I watched Session 9 last night before I went to bed. It was around 11:30, and I didn't turn off the set until after 1:00.

Big mistake.

I went to sleep on edge, feeling really weird, like all the dark shadows contained some sort of...I don't know.

And that's just it: I don't know.

I don't now what the antagonist was in Session 9. I don't know what the point of the movie was. I don't know what to make of the ending. Was it supernatural, like The Shining? Or was it merely psychological, like any guy-under-pressure-kills-people movie?

I don't know.

The asylum was way beyond creepy. It, alone, deserves the three stars I gave this movie. But the plot is weak, and the wrap-up was even weaker. More spookiness could have been wrung out of this movie if the writer/director had utilized the setting more effectly and shown flashbacks to when the asylum was in full use. Or shown ghosts. Or shown things moving in the asylum that weren't human. Or something.

I can't recommend Session 9 -- although I wish I could. It's a great idea. But it was flawed in its execution.

This movie had potential. Still frames of the Danvers hospital will send a chill up your spine. However, the story just does not create any suspense.

The movie has the typical formula of 95% introduction, 5% climax and ending with no middle section. No gradual building of suspense that keeps you at the edge of your seat.

Nothing related to the story really happens in the first 95% of the movie, and then in the last 5%, a chain of events occurs. The only problem is that most viewers probably know exactly who is behind the chain of events the minute the first event happens. So there is no "whodunnit" supspense whatsoever (watch the deleted scenes and director's commentary and you will see this is the type of suspense he was going for). The only suspense is that you are waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for something to happen. Then it does and you know exactly who did it and why. It is like watching 3 hours of convenience store surveilence tape in anticipation of a robbery and then the thief walks in, waves to the camera, and takes off his mask.

The setting is awesome, the acting is pretty good, and the characters are likeable... but the story [stinks]!!!

Even though it is a suspense film (which are not believable to begin with, but that is the point), certain things do have to add up to for the film to have any credibility. One huge thing doesn't! Why doesn't Mike just take the tapes home instead wasting the whole work week listening to them, especially when they are trying to get the project done in one week! The movies does a pretty good job of depicting him as a bright, hard-working guy. So why, you ask, would he do something so stupid? Why? Because the sessions are creepy and the director wants to distract you from the fact that nothing is really happening. The result? The whole film seems contrived.

[weak].

The creepiest thing about this movie are the images of the asylum itself, however, the director fails to use the creepiness to it's full extent. Showing eerie rooms in wide angle, and blinding broad daylight hardly adds to the suspense. Take a few pages out of David Fincher's playbook, and get back to us.

This movie really is just weak. The acting is awful (Especially the young kid with the mullet), the direction is juvenile, the script is pretty bad, and the casting... well... it's no surprise that David Caruso is the "big named talent" for this piece of junk.

The worst part of this movie, is the extra footage, showing an interview with the writer-slash-director, who talks about "his creation" like he created the next "Citizen Kane". Talk about being pompous. This guy needs to get a clue. He is one inch away from directing "10-10-321" commericals (come to think of it, I can safely say, that at least would hold the audience attention more than this steaming pile of clap-trap!)

The big mystery previously left unanswered is this:

I gave it 2 stars, instead of 1, because I live close to Danvers, MA, where this film takes place. That's it folks. That's the reason. Locale.

...I always enjoyed David Caruso's work on television, but I have yet to see him in a film that I feel truly showcases his talents. Also, I rarely write negative reviews -- of films, books, or music -- but after watching this last night, I feel like I've been insulted.

The building in this film -- an abandoned mental hospital -- is definitely possessed of a personality of its own, but I can't say much for the charcters or plot. Several interesting avenues are approached -- but none of them are explored at any length or with any intelligence. One of the characters in the film stumbles upon a cache of tapes relating to a notorious sexual abuse case, involving efforts of doctors to awaken repressed memories in a multiple-personality disorder patient -- but other than listening to a few of the tapes and making some notes, that's as far as this is explored.

I also found it a little hard to swallow that the haz-mat team featured in the film, pressed to do what they admit is at least a two-to-three week job in a week's time, finds so much opportunity to sit around and irritate each other and explore the various rooms and corridors of the hospital.

The atmosphere depicted in the film was nicely portrayed, but that's about the only plus I could find in it. I was left feeling like I had wasted an evening.

I rented this DVD the other day thinking it would be a scary movie. The only thing scary about this movie is that it was put on film in the first place. It could have been a good movie if Alfred Hitchcock had come back from the grave to direct it. The movie starts out so well but by the time it ends you have spent so much time trying to figure out who the killer is that you are not paying attention to subtle clues in the movie. The only unsettling thing about this movie is the time I wasted watching it. The movie never comes together.The story was a good one, it was just a shame the movie wasn't.

A perfect movie a subtle fear and horror.
No current film builds real fear like this.
If you want to be scared, turn off the lights, grab your popcorn and pop this into your DVD player.

after watching Session 9,i have to say i was disappointed.the movie was
very slow moving,boring in fact.the basic premise is this:a cleanup
crew is hired to work in a former mental hospital.the catch is,the
hospital has a very dark past.it seems that the ghosts of that past
have not all left the hospital.now,you would think this would make for
a good ghost story,but it doesn't,at least for me.the whole movie is
bleak and depressing,mainly dealing with the personal life of one of
the main characters,which does have some relevance to the premise,but
this remains mostly hidden for over a third of the film.nothing of much
consequence happens in the film,until nearly the very end.i fell asleep
with about minutes left in the movie.however judging from what i did
see,this movie is not worth watching.the acting is OK and the music is
suitably eerie for the film,but that's it.2/5,for the acting.by the
way,for a similar and superior film try Boo.