Session 9
00:40:00
About
We conclude our Haunted April season (in May) with Brad Anderson’s atmospheric chiller “Session 9”. A film in which we learn that health and safety at work is one thing, but health safety in the kitchen can save lives; crematorium walls that pay out like slot machines are best left alone; and maybe if you took less tea breaks and stop pissing off to listen to old tapes, we could get this job finished in a week! Filmed within the actual abandoned Danvers State Hospital, a location that would be a gift to any horror filmmaker. This haunting locale, combined with a brilliant cast, Anderson’s compelling story and incredible visuals - shot on the then cutting edge 24P HD Digital Video - forms an intense, dark puzzle to be pored over. Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers, and join us.
Madness is just overactive curiosity.
Famous lines
- "Fear Is A Place."
- "Use your imagination."— Simon
- "Because Mary let me, Doc. They always do. They always do."— Simon
- "I live in the weak and the wounded... Doc."— Simon
Quotes verified against Wikiquote.
Transcript
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LeeEvening everybody, Lee here. our regular listeners will know that we recently did a supernatural stories episode or not, depending on your beliefs.
Leebut it seems to have gone down quite well and we've spoken to a few people who said they've got interesting stories of their own. So as we tempted the idea at the end of our last episode, we're going to do a follow-up at some point.
LeeSo if any of you have stories of your own that you think would be interesting that you wouldn't mind us sharing with the listeners, feel free to either record them and email them over to us at info@welcometohorror.com.
Leeor otherwise you can type them out and send them to us and we will read them out on the show.
Leeif you'd rather not use your name, we will use your first name otherwise, but if you'd rather go under an alias, include that in the message and we'll be sure to use that. Thanks very much and enjoy the show.
LeeGood evening and welcome to Horror. I'm Lee.
ChrisI'm Chris.
AdamI'm Adam.
LeeAnd we are here yet again for another movie that we've been far too long since I last watched it, to be honest.
Adam
Leethere will be spoilers, there will be swearing, we'll keep the spoilers until later, I think probably, because this is one that I don't think so many people have watched and I think some people might be tempted after they've heard us discuss it.
AdamYeah, good point.
Leebut yeah, obviously we will need to discuss where the film goes, but we'll try not to get into that too early on.
Leeso Chris, what did you make on your first viewing of Session 9?
ChrisYeah, so I didn't remember either of you talking about this. I've never heard of it before.
ChrisI saw the the one line synopsis which said, a job clearing asbestos at a mental asylum.
ChrisI thought it doesn't sound amazing.
AdamFrom that.
AdamQuite frankly, that is possibly the worst synopsis I've heard.
ChrisIt could it could be.
ChrisBut I thought fair enough, you know, I'd give it a go. And I got to say actually, I was pretty quickly drawn in by the characters.
ChrisAnd then I was almost massively put off when I when it was when you start hearing about what's happened and it's like, oh, that is pretty brutal. How much is it going to show us? How much is it going to cover? And it's like, no, actually they did it in a very, very good way where, yeah, you get a sense that it's going to be really hard hitting and then it just isn't quite as bad the way they do it. And I was like, no, that's working for me. That's pretty good.
ChrisAnd then the mystery starts to kick in and you're like, oh, now who who is doing what here? What's going on? They've all got a little bit of a motive, they've all got they're all up to something in in a different sort of way and yeah, who is it really focusing on? Who's going to be the the victim, you know, who's is there a ghost going to come out? It's like, yeah, there's quite a lot going on here and it's sort of yeah, as it unfolded, it got more and more complex, I would say.
ChrisThis might be me being a bit dim, but I thought, I'm following this easily. And I was like, not not entirely sure if I am perfectly and it's I'm fascinated now to see how it's going to end. And I got to say, didn't didn't quite expect the ending.
ChrisDon't know if everybody expects that to happen on their first viewing or not.
ChrisBut yeah, it it it definitely concluded in a both satisfying and horrible way.
AdamLaughs.
LeeI think that perfectly encapsulates the ending pretty much.
ChrisYeah. Definitely.
ChrisYeah, so it stepped right up but didn't didn't hit that point that I thought it was going to hit earlier on in the, oh that would be awful if we see some of this stuff.
LeeYeah, so even things that later transpires do happen, not going into spoilers, you don't actually see anything. You know it happens and that is bad enough, like it doesn't have to rub your face in it to have the impact of it.
ChrisYeah, they absolutely get that right, I think.
AdamIt's it's like we were saying it was like we were saying about with sort of the darker side of Inside Number Nine.
Chris
AdamOf it's like they set it up well enough and give you enough information that you're like that horrible fucking thing has happened. They don't need to show it to you.
ChrisNo. Because they could be all the intensity, all the edge without going over the top.
AdamAnd a lot of the time when you when you actually show something, the the imagination tends to enhance it or lose.
ChrisIt loses something.
AdamAnd it's already pretty bad.
AdamSo it's of yeah.
Leeespecially as well, because I'd forgotten, so when this film first came out, I think I watched it once with Adam and I watched it once with Lady Jennifer and I don't think I've seen it again since and that was probably 13 years ago, so it's been a long time.
ChrisOkay.
AdamYeah.
Leedidn't remember.
ChrisIt's it's reasonably old, isn't it?
Adam2001.
ChrisThe the mobile phone gave gave something away. It's like there's no smartphones going on here.
ChrisSo it had to be at least before kind of 2008.
AdamYeah, it's 2001.
AdamAnd I which would have been I saw it roughly when it came out.
LeeYeah, I think we did. So we yeah, so it's even even longer ago than I realized. Yeah.
AdamYeah, could be like 20 odd years back or something like that now.
AdamAnd I think I've only seen it, it just it's stayed with me.
AdamBut I I only saw it that once, but I was what the for this I was watching the rather marvelous second sight Blu-ray version. And the one thing that's gone there and again this is something that would need to be covered more on the spoiler end is.
AdamThere is a whole extra sort of element to this that was cut out.
LeeOh, right.
Adamin terms of in terms of like there was another element to this to the story and.
AdamIt doesn't change anything, but it creates a whole new take on sort of certain parts of it. But apparently they they just and they cut it out because it it worked oddly with test audiences, but again.
AdamI don't want to say too much before we head into it.
ChrisOh, man.
ChrisI'm very eager to hear about that.
LeeYeah. But yeah, so what I was I was about to say was I'd forgotten how low budget this film is, which again, as you were saying, we've not showing too much, might have been part of the reason they sort of opted to do it that way and describe stuff and show you less.
LeeYeah, because this although the acting's great and things great.
ChrisYeah, it's.
LeeIt's literally just a kind of film stock, it looks too real to be a hor to be a Hollywood movie. I think it's.
ChrisYeah, it does.
AdamIt it's the very early, it's the very early HD digital video.
LeeYeah.
AdamSo similar to like 28 Days Later.
AdamWhich gives it that oddly, which gives it a double weird thing because it it partly gives it a documentary feeling.
AdamBut also oddly gives it a feeling like you're watching something that someone made themselves, like like a home video sort of thing, because that was the last time that that that was the last days that technology got to before we all just had phones and we could just film anything we liked at any time.
LeeYeah.
AdamBecause that was the last time that that that was the last days that technology got to before we all just had phones and we could just film anything we fucking liked at any time.
AdamYeah. So it had to be at least before kind of 2008. Yeah, it's 2001. And I which would have been I saw it roughly when it came out.
AdamYeah, it's 2001.
AdamYeah, it's 2001.
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AdamYeah, it's 2001.
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AdamYeah, it's 2001.
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AdamYeah, it's 2001.
AdamYeah, it's 2001.
AdamYeah, it's 2001.
