Thursday, February 17

Session 9 (2001) - 2001 USA Entertainment Screener VHS

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Nothing particularly special about this tape besides Anderson's debut making my Top 10 of the Last Decade, so it's well worth checking out. Preferably the DVD since this tape is painfully cropped from 2.35:1 scope to full screen. Many fawn over the director's The Machinist starring an emaciated Christian Bale, but it's predictable and simple-minded compared to this psychological horror tour de force. Peter Mullan's performance alone is in the caliber of Nicholson in The Shining and Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs.

What I wrote about Session 9 last year: "Those that know, know, yet Brad Anderson's magnificent walk through the condemned catacombs of Danvers State Hospital remains criminally underrated even within the horror community. This film was blessed with the happy accident of a subplot that if included would have severely damaged the extreme tension and psychosis found in Peter Mullan's flawless performance. The rest of the cast, yes even Caruso, hold their own and frankly this film towers over Anderson's more widely seen The Machinist."

3 comments:

combustion07 said...

Great film!

J. Astro said...

Hell yes, it's underrated, and good call on the subplot being mercifully left out so that Mullan's character and the rest of the story shined through that much better. Everyone I've ever recommended this movie to has liked it, and that's rare.

Buscemi said...

Any interesting trailers or promo reels on this?

...do you dare tread upon the staircase?

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