Looking for a suspenseful horror flick that is heavy on the creepy and light on the gore? Want something with an ending that will make you shiver? “Session 9” may be just the thing you need.

I found this movie through a roommate back when I lived in California during one of our weekly movie nights. Since the first watching of this particular film I’ve recommended it many friends. About half of them love it and half of them are more of the “meh” reaction. I admit, if you want a movie that does all the thinking for you, this one isn’t it. There were twists that had me re-watching to make sure that I caught something properly and the whole movie can make you sit there for bit after it’s over just lost in thought.

Here’s a quick summary:

A small asbestos removal crew wins a bid to clean out an old mental hospital in an extremely short amount of time. The crew itself has its own issues: one member who is angry at another who stole a girlfriend, one who is new to the job and has a severe phobia of the dark, one who has problems at home and so on. They each react to the job and the atmosphere of the hospital in a different way. One of the workers finds a box marked “Evidence” while cleaning and begins to listen to the nine session tapes of a patient called Mary who has multiple personality disorder. Through the movie we get to listen to excerpts of these sessions played over the action of the movie. The personalities all refer to an incident that happened early in Mary’s life and another personality called “Simon” that they fear.

I can’t really explain more without giving away spoilers and trust me, you need to watch this movie and be surprised. I will say that the very last line of the movie is my favorite and I often quote it when I’m in full creepy mood.

Overall the movie is a wonderfully creepy look into the minds of several folks, letting us see a fraction of the broken personalities and paranoia that grows through the film. Let’s just add to that mix with the setting of a recently shut down mental hospital. When are mental hospitals NOT creepy? The tapes of Mary’s sessions that we hear played throughout (as there’s not as much dialogue as you might expect between the workers) heighten the sense of anticipation and suspense, all leading to the final line of the movie.

Ha! After writing about it I now want to watch it as soon as I get home. Have you seen it or are you curious to see it? Let me know what you think!