# Session 9

Session 9 a 2001 psychological horror film in which tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back. It was filmed in notorious real life Danvers State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts.
    Directed by Brad Anderson. Written by Brad Anderson and Stephen Gevedon.

## Gordon

* [crying while sitting on the floor of the mental hospital, holding a dead cellular phone] ...Wendy, it's me, please don't hang up, please! I just wanted to say that... I'm so sorry for what's happened... I'm so lonely here, I want to go home... I just want to hold you, I want to hold my baby... can you forgive me... can you forgive me?

## Phil

* It says here that 19 were committed due to disappointed expectations, Hank, they're talkin' about you.

## Hank

* Madness is just overactive curiosity.

## Mike

* The icepick method. Insert a thin metal pipette into the orbital frontal cortex. Enter the soft tissue of the frontal lobe. A few simple, smooth, up-and-down jerks sever the lateral hypothalamus... all resulting in a rapid reduction of stress for our little patient here. Total time elapsed? Two minutes. Only side-effect? Black eye. Recommended treatment? Sunglasses.
* [reading the asylum journals] He came into her room at night wearing a black robe. He'd take her and drive her to a wooded area where her grandparents and her mother were, and they'd all have black robes on. They'd take them off and group orgies would ensue... and then they'd bring out the newborn. She was forced to watch as her mother would cut the baby's heart out with a stone dagger. She'd drink the blood; others would eat the flesh. The grandfather and father would fuck her repeatedly. She was forced to have abortions and cook the aborted fetuses.

## Dialogue

    Gordon: What's the stupidest thing you've ever done?
    Phil: You mean aside from coming to work for you?... Well, I would have to say introducing Hank to Amy. That was pretty fucking stupid. I'd like to have that one back.
    Jeff: What's the deal with Phil and Hank?
    Mike: What's the deal? Hank stole Phil's girlfriend! It's a nightmare! You don't wanna get involved! You especially don't want to get on Phil's bad side, he'll give you all the grunt work
    Bill: This is where they'd keep the extreme patients. The psychotics... You know what they called Ward A? "The snake pit."... Either of you guys scared of the dark? Come on, over here.
    [Bill and Phil walk away together]
    Mary Hobbes: [voice of Simon] Hello... Gordon.
    Phil: [calling from a distance] Gordy? [shining flashlight] It's me, man! Come on!
    Phil: You think I'm doing a bad job, Mike?
    Mike: [indifferently, reading an old asylum journal] No, you're doing fine.
    Phil: This used to be a great deal. Steady gigs, joking around, beers after work...
    Mike: Hey, look, it says here that eight were committed for "uncontrolled passion."
    Phil: [irritably] Then Emma came... Don't look at me like that, man. You know that's why we lost the last two gigs. He's tired, and he overbid.
    Mike: [defensively] Gordon loves being a father.
    Phil: Yeah, now he does. Now he loves it. But it was never in his heart. This was all Wendy's idea.
    Mike: Look, Phil. Just because you say you don't want something doesn't mean you don't want it. Six years ago, I didn't want to be a lawyer, but now I'm thinking...
    Phil: Wait. Who the fuck are you kidding? You shuck fiber with us, in there, okay? But that's - that's not what I am talking about. I am talking about fatherhood. It's screwing this guy's head up, and it's fucking his job up. At the very least, he should've canned Hank's ass six months ago, and you know it!
    Gordon: I hit Wendy.
    Phil: What?
    Gordon: It was Friday night. I wanted to celebrate gettin' this job. I had the flowers, I had the champagne. I went into the kitchen. She was cookin' pasta. I wanted to kiss her. She turned around and before I knew it, there was a pot of boiling water all over my leg. And I don't know if it was the dog barkin', I don't know if it was Emma cryin', but I slapped her. I hit my wife. I love my wife. It was an accident. But I slapped her for it.
    Phil: He was a liability. I mean, he brought it on himself... Didn't he? I mean, it's typical. Typical Henry: The wrong place, at the wrong time.
    Gordon: You did this?
    Phil: Gordon! I need you to wake up, and take a really, really good look at him... You know what I wouldn't do? I wouldn't tell anybody about this, because if they find out about Hank, they're going to find out about the others.
    Jeff: What's your point?
    Henry: Just have an exit plan, dude. You stick with this job too long, it'll mess you up, man. It gets inside of you - the stress.
    Mary Hobbes: [tape of session 9, Mary speaks in a voice, hauntingly deep with masculinity] Hello, Doc.
    Doctor: Simon?
    Mary Hobbes: You know who I am.
    Doctor: Billy has told me a lot about you.
    Mary Hobbes: Billy is a smart boy.
    Doctor: What happened on Christmas night in Lowell?
    Mary Hobbes: Use your imagination.
    Doctor: I'd rather you tell me, Simon.
    Mary Hobbes: Peter was naughty, Doc.
    Doctor: What did Peter do?
    Mary Hobbes: He shouldn't have done it... Doc.
    Doctor: Tell me, Simon.
    Mary Hobbes: He scared Mary, Doc. He crept up behind her in the dark and he scared her. Mary fell down, Doc. She fell on her doll. It cut her up, Doc. It cut her up real bad. She needed someone to help her. So I... introduced myself. And I told her to cut up Peter, Doc. To cut him up real bad. Good thing his knife was brand new. Real sharp. And then just so her mommy and daddy wouldn't get mad, I told her... to cut them up, too. There was a lot of blood, Doc. So much blood. But Mary wanted to do it, so she did it.
    Doctor: Why did you do it, Simon?
    Mary Hobbes: [voice of Simon] Because Mary let me, Doc. They always do. They always do. [laughs]
    Doctor: Billy, where does the Princess live?
    Mary Hobbes: [voice of Billy] In the tongue.
    Doctor: Why the tongue?
    Mary Hobbes: [voice of Billy] Because she's always talking, sir.
    Doctor: And where do you live, Billy?
    Mary Hobbes: [voice of Billy] I live in the eyes - you know that.
    Doctor: Remind me, though. Why the eyes?
    Mary Hobbes: [voice of Billy] Because... I see everything, sir.
    Doctor: And where does Simon live, Billy? Where does Simon live?
    [Silence]
    Doctor: And where do you live, Simon?
    Mary Forbes: [voice of Simon] I live in the weak and the wounded... Doc.

## Cast

* Peter Mullan - Gordon Fleming
* David Caruso - Phil
* Stephen Gevedon - Mike
* Josh Lucas - Hank
* Brendan Sexton III - Jeff
* Jurian Hughes - Mary Hobbes
* Larry Fessenden - Craig McManus
* Paul Guilfoyle - Bill Griggs
* Charley Broderick - Security Guard

## External links

* Session 9 quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* Session 9 at Rotten Tomatoes
* Session 9 at Allmovie