Unseen Terror 2012: Day 9

A group of asbestos workers go to work on an abandoned mental hospital. Over time, multiple things start getting in the way of their work. Tension and personal matters among the group begin to arise, but the real factor involves the hospital's troubled, awful past, which may or may not be returning to haunt them.



Quick show of hands: who here has previously seen this clip of David Caruso cursing?

Now, another show of hands: how many of you have seen the film from where this clip was taken? Session 9 is a psychological horror tale that at first glance might seem like standard fare or a ripoff of The Shining, but eventually turns into something a little more interesting. And for those wondering, that clip above is probably the most out-of-place moment in the entire film.

I don't think David Caruso's career in movies has been nearly as successful as he'd have liked it to be, but he's fairly entertaining here, albeit still suited better for television. The rest of the cast does well enough, though I personally couldn't understand about half of Peter Mullan's dialogue. Whether that was due to audio mixing or his mumbling Scottish accent I'm not quite certain. I was personally offended by the choice for the "young metal guy" on the team, but that's USA Films for you I suppose. The film moves pretty slow for the most part, choosing to focus on building these characters into the furthest things from paper thin stereotypes. Don't get me wrong, that certainly isn't a bad thing, but my own interest was waning here and there until around the fifty minute mark, when things started to take a turn for the better.

For a film that has almost nothing in the way of budget (and no, I don't think they spent their money on signing Caruso considering that, well, it IS David Caruso), it doesn't look entirely cheap. Tension in horror can work well whether there's hundreds, thousands, or millions of dollars behind it. Putting together the end twist(s) may take a bit of time, but it did make a little more sense than I initially thought it did, even if it was the furthest thing from original.

Session 9 almost lost me a few times throughout its running time, but kept winning me back. This is one of those flicks that will most likely end up receiving a second viewing, NOT to take in more that you may have missed, but to appreciate the art of making a pretty decent little film with not much in the way of backup support.


Tomorrow, we head to China for a serving of DUMPLINGS.