MovieChat Forums > Session 9 (2001) Discussion > One of the best (psychological) horror m...

One of the best (psychological) horror movies I have ever watched

posted 10 years ago by met1981
13 replies | jump to latest

Being a fan of Silent Hill games, I found out that Session 9 was a major influence on Silent Hill 3, as Jacob's Ladder (another amazing and scary movie that I loved as well) and Blue Velvet were to SH2. So I watched this movie last weekeend and... it scared the hell out of me! What an amazing, amazing, and absolutely AMAZING thriller/horror movie!

I can't recall being so frightened and tense during a whole movie. The abandoned asylum is extremely eerie and unsettling, I felt really anxious and tense about it, like something really terrible was about to happen. What a perfect location they shot the movie in, the atmosphere was fantastic, I felt like it was like The Shining in a asylum. The score was extremely suspenseful and really contributed to the mood.

I considered the acting great (even Caruso's glorious "fu*k you" line), the characters were believable to me, with their personal stories fitting perfectly with the plot. The character development was phenomenal, the pace was slow, and that's the way want thriller movies to be.

I swear that the scene in which one of the workers, late at night and alone in a hallway, spots a human-like shadow coming in his direction sent a shiver down my spine, one of the most terrifying scenes I've ever watched. The scene in which a character listens to the tapes containing interviews with the patients with DID, where she impersonates a child, "Simon", I believe, was beyond creepy as well.

Could you suggest me similar horror/thriller movies to this? I mean, atmospheric, slow-paced, with great character development? I would love to watch another movie of this kind. 10/10 to me, it's in with The Shining, The Omen, The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby in my personal Top 5 horror/thriller movies, marvelous job from the director's, writers and cast, and it's a pity that this masterpiece does not seem to be as well-known as it should be.

[–] tuffysmom 10 years ago

Yes, this film is just very disturbing. It totally gets under your skin.

I would recommend the original Carnival of Souls -- made in the early 60s with a budget of about $10. If you can get past that, it's very creepy, and makes great use of an old abandoned pavilion.

[–] gvkeitz 9 years ago

Love your support for the film. I agree but not as strongly.

[–] Dan_Garten 9 years ago

Cool.

[–] Tdegolier-129-857001 9 years ago

I agree, I think it's the scariest movie I have seen, and I am a big scary movie fan. I honestly had hairs standing on end at moments, because I felt like I knew that place, Danvers, that I had been there before, yet I have never been to Boston.

[–] verycoolnin 9 years ago

Session 9 is very underrated. It's filmed at an Actual Abandoned Mental Institution. Danvers in Massachusetts. It has been destroyed since.

[–] Don_Cheech 9 years ago

The Machinist is pretty good. Same director

[–] SCY385-1 9 years ago

I agree with you. I consider Session 9 to be one of the best films of it's kind. It is slow, creepy, foreboding, and dark. It does not have a happy ending. When the credits are rolling you are still sitting there trying to understand what you just saw and being shocked by it. The final words spoken in film still haunt me after all these years and are perfect for the tone of the film. 'And where do you live Simon? I live in the weak and the wounded........Doc.' Gives me shivers.

[–] alandarwick 9 years ago

I totally agree, and funnily enough I'm a huge fan of the Silent Hill games as well, which is partly what lead me to watch Session 9 for the first time about a year ago. I read about the little homage in SH3 (the wheelchair behind the glass) years ago but it took me a long time to get around to actually watching the film, and it instantly became an all time favourite.

I'm someone who finds most movies I attempt to watch aren't worth watching one time yet alone several, but I must have seen Session 9 about a dozen times now. And every single time, I notice things I didn't notice before...

The above mentioned ending lines also creep me out every time, not just the words themselves, but the background noise/music that comes on and leads into it, the foreboding shots over the buildings and the perfect and creepily deliberate timing of Simon's last words in the film.

A book could be written about this movie and the possible interpretations... I definitely prefer to think of Simon as a demonic entity (after all, "They always do"... plus when Gordon first hears the voice after seeing the wheelchair at the start of the film, it's accompanied by the same static background noise as the tapes, which actually becomes audible several seconds before he says "Hello Gordon"), which is something I don't usually find that scary at all in most films, but this one is definitely an exception.

[–] radio-head-943-46030 9 years ago

Nicely written buddy...always nice to hear people liking this movie..brad Andersons finest still..not sure if you will agree,but I watched this again recently and felt a connection with asbestos and evil...as in England asbestos..caused many problems to people in the past..hence the removel of this material in many buildings in England..so in this movie..they were trying to remove this materia,but the evil was still around,as Well as all the other evil...Anyway was just Something that Came to mind.
As far as a film recommendation..I would check out TRIANGLE..directed by Christopher smith