gordon fleming ( peter mullan ) is in a bind . 
he has a new , unexpected baby and his business , hazardous material removal , is in danger of going under . 
when he and his crew get a job opportunity at the long-abandoned danvers state hospital , he underbids the competition to secure the contract and promises to get the three-week job done in one . 
it will prove to be a fateful week for them all in " session 9 . " 
gordo gets the job to remove asbestos and other hazardous materials from the spooky old mental hospital in preparation for relocating town offices there . 
their guided tour of the facility by a local official , bill giggs ( paul guilfoyle ) , brings them through some of the creepier parts of the former asylum . 
but , a job is a job and , if they finish in a week , as promised , there is a $10000 bonus in store . 
as they get down to their work , things , normal and not so normal , begin to happen . 
gordon hears a disembodied voice beckoning him . 
phil ( david caruso ) is conflicted working with a guy , hank ( josh lucas ) , who is seeing his old girlfriend . 
mike ( co-screenwriter steven gevedon ) has discovered a cache of audiotapes and transcripts from old psychiatric sessions ( hence , the title ) with inmate mary hobbs , a multi-personality patient with a dark secret . 
gordo's nephew , jeff ( brendan sexton iii ) , suffers from night phobia and is afraid to venture into the dark bowels of the hospital . 
as the agreed upon week draws to an end , hank mysteriously disappears from the workplace after a nocturnal confrontation with someone ( something ? ) in the hospital . 
tensions mount and distrust build among the rest as they watch their chance for the bonus start to slip away . 
but , there is more , much more , at stake as the hospital and its history of insanity weigh on them all . 
i don't want to give away too much of the story of " session 9 , " so i'll stop there . 
what we have here is a spooky horror flick that uses none of the jump-out-at-you-from-the-dark cheap shots that have become part and parcel with horror films since the advent of " halloween " and " friday the thirteenth . " 
there is no cat leaping out of the dark or the shock of suddenly seeing oneself in a strategically placed mirror . 
with the exception of one shadowy and chilling image at one point spooky interlude in the film , there is little that you can get your arms around as far as what , specifically , is " frightening . " 
as i watched " session 9 " i became aware of the subtle things that built up during the story that make it a true horror movie . 
the striking high-definition video camera work by uta briesewitz ( who worked with the director , brad anderson , on his " next stop wonderland " ) helps to build up tension with close-ups , fluid camera movement and odd angles in a way that would make alfred hitchcock proud . 
music , too , is used to intense effect , joining with the camera to make simple scenes frightening , even horrifying . 
couple these tech feats with an intelligent story that uses elements of " the shining , " " the blair witch project " and , even " the texas chainsaw massacre " and you get a decent , intriguing horror flick . 
additionally , the brilliant decision to shoot at danvers state hospital gives the film another starring character , the institution itself , which lends even more chills to the equation . 
acting is another factor that raises " session 9 " above the usual dreck presented in recent horror hits like " scream , " " i know what you did last summer " and their sequels . 
those films took good-looking , though generic , young actors and actresses and put them to use to build up a body count , substituting mayhem for real horror . 
anderson opted , instead , to use mature , experienced actors like peter mullan and david caruso to fill his characters' shoes and the difference in casting quality is notable . 
mullan , in particular , puts an arc on his character , gordon , as the troubled guy who slowly and inexorably falls under the pressures of family , job and , finally , danvers state hospital . 
the rest of the small cast fit the bill as people , not just fodder for the mayhem . 
david caruso , as gordo's senior man and near equal in the business , shows just how good an actor he is . 
he made the jump from tv's " nypd blue " to film far too soon and his decisions in the roles he took ( i'll never forget the horrendous " jade " ) were less than star making . 
he rolls his sleeves up and does the job well here . 
gevedon , lucas and sexton are more than fodder , too . 
the only problem with " session 9 " lay in the uninspired ending . 
it takes on a fairly conventional finale that covers old ground and is a bit of a disappointment after the terrific ( and inspired ) build up . 
the pleasure is getting there and i wish that anderson and gevedon had kept up the steam they had so ably built during the bulk of the film 
 " session 9 " is an unusual feat . 
it is scary , doesn't use cheap tricks and raises goose bumps with its intelligently rendered , subtle horror . 
because of the local interest of danvers , it should do well with the northeast crowd . 
i hope it gets the national distribution it deserves . 
i give it a b+ . 
