This is not your ordinary haunted house. In fact it’s Ohio’s revered Danvers State Hospital, a sprawling building rich with a colorful history. Murderers, psychopaths, sexual deviants, multiple personalities, you name it, this place has seen it. And the good folks at Danver’s were ‘instrumental’ in giving their patients the latest in medical treatments, advocating frontal lobotomies and other malpractices along the way. Budget cuts would eventually force Danvers to close its doors. (True story, by the way) Needless to say the place has a few ghosts lurking in its shadows.*

The plot entertains the notion that the city now has plans on renovating the expansive structure. In this subdued psychological thriller an asbestos removal team on the property find themselves vulnerable to the work environment, and ultimately, to each other.* We are first introduced to the crew: there's Gordon, the struggling, over-stressed crew leader with a newborn to provide for; Phil, second in command, still pining for an ex-girlfriend now with ramblin’ gamblin’ co-worker Hank; the bitter law school dropout Mike, who takes a shine to the annals of an ex-patient; and then Jeff, Gordon's young nephew who just happens to be afraid of the dark.* Gordon, finding himself desperate for work, agrees to overhaul Danvers in a week to secure the contract. The promise of a large bonus fuels the entire group to meet deadline.

Tension unsurprisingly arises between Phil and Hank, while Gordon seems to be having relationship troubles. Mike discovers some old tape recordings marked evidence which he begins to listen to in his spare time. The tapes document sessions between Mary Dobbes, a schizophrenic, and her psychiatrist. Mary has apparently done something awful, and her various personalities seem to guard a dark secret. Mike becomes fascinated with the case and listens to subsequent sessions as the film progresses. As you can probably guess, the ninth is most revealing.* Meanwhile, Hank has found old coins and other booty possibly worth a small fortune hidden in a wall which he attempts to escape with.

He mysteriously disappears however, and Gordon starts to entertain the thought that Phil’s jealousy may have turned feral. Phil maintains that Hank just left, but they are all astonished when he’s found later, wounded, half naked and muttering to himself. He vanishes again and the team splits up to search the premises. One by one the men are brutally ambushed by an unseen assailant. Are they the victims of some supernatural force or their own personal demons?* The atmosphere in Session 9 is extraordinary. Through manipulative camerawork and controlled direction the suspense deftly builds to a crescendo.

The ensemble cast is great and each performance is convincing. The plot is as tight as a strait jacket and the supernatural elements are left to interpretation. Conclusions are left up to the viewer on how things can take such a drastic turn. Brad Anderson's film essentially asks if your surroundings can influence the inner workings of your mind, and if so, to what degree. A fascinating, disturbing film, and a must see.