In Case You Missed It: Session 9 (2001)

Session 9 (2001)

Stars - David Caruso

           Stephen Gevedon

           Paul Guilfoyle

Directed by:  Brad Anderson

Summary: Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back. (via imdb). 

I found this movie accidentally, and mostly because I was looking to see what else Brad Anderson had made after watching the under-appreciated and oft overlooked The Machinist (on a side note, if you want to watch a seriously messed up movie with an anorexic Christian Bale acting his ass off, get that one too!). I was so struck by how much that movie stayed with me, that I was excited to see he had done a horror film (available for streaming on Netflix currently).
And then, two words almost killed this for me. David Caruso. I mean, really? Have you seen Jade? Woof (as @SlasherCastTed would say). And his ham-fisted "I studied at the Keanu Reeves school of line delivery" turn on CSI:Miami? It really made me a little reluctant to watch this as seeing "Directed by Joel Schumacher" did with Blood Creek. 

My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give this a chance after all. And, I'm glad I did. While not as haunting and atmospheric as The Machinist, Anderson proves he can set a mood as well as any other genre king. The editing may not be as tight as I would like, but the lack of action in this instance does serve to build tension, not bore. I like the setting and the deepening mystery behind an old case at the hospital. There are enough red herrings about to keep you guessing at the truth, even if the choice seems obvious in hindsight. Just the little seeds of doubt planted here and there are enough to keep you interested in seeing the end. This is not a "rush out immediately and see this movie" kind of movie (obviously, since it came out in 2001, right?), but a definite "I've caught up on my DVR, what does Netflix have?" choice.