Weekly Review -- Creepy nooks and crannies

Session 9 (2001) -- An eerie, underrated fright fest, Brad Anderson's Session 9 is a horror gem. 

An asbestos removal crew arrives at an abandoned asylum for a lucrative job. They soon discover odd goings-on involving old patients and the hospital's questionable history, events that start affecting them in strange and horrific ways... 

The film's pacing is half of its achievement. The suspense builds up slowly through the unexpected, as well as the characters' backstories that slowly start interweaving with the asylum's past. The filmmakers utilize the extraordinary setting to maximum impact; the camera explores every decaying room, peeled-down wall and broken window, finding the promise of terror in each corner. This technique turns the hospital into a character that lurks behind the scenes, only occasionally appearing to frighten the wits out of both the characters and the audience. I loved the absence of gore and the presence of ambiance -- sometimes true horror can indeed be poetry told through refined verse, rather than a poor result of shoving blood and guts down viewers' throats. Anderson creates metaphoric references to show the dusk of the human mind, switching back and forth from his human characters to the haunted and haunting location, using stark-yet-vibrant cinematography to show the men's psychological odyssey in the most realistic fashion. 

The acting is up to par with the symbolism; Peter Mullan and co-writer Stephen Gevedon are especially effective in their roles of an anxious new father and a troubled ex-law student, respectively. 

The rich plotlines, shadowy effects and minimalist music make Session 9 seem like a jazzy, smoky combination of The Shining and House on Haunted Hill; however, that would still be a deliberately vague description on my part, since the movie offers so much more than that. This is one of those movies that are best experienced with eyes wide open, knowing as little as possible in advance, so please do yourself a favor and do not look for spoilers. This one time, let yourself be surprised. You will not regret it.

8/10