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So I finally saw the movie SESSION 9, which I'd borrowed from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gawayn about a year ago. And ok, I have my complaints, I suppose. I mean, the plot was convoluted and muddled and I'm still not certain what I think of the ending. But regardless, I'm still tempted to call this one of the best horror movies I've ever seen.
And when I say "horror", I don't mean gore and monsters and splatter and all that. I mean horror in the sense of the original THE HAUNTING and TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, of PSYCHO, THE SHINING, John Carptenter's THE THING and the criminally underappreciated (and perhaps my second favorite horror movie of all time) EXORCIST III. True horror, in my opinion, is not just in shock. Any idiot can go "Boo!" It takes no creativity to go "Boo!" (like the entirety of the horrible TEXAS CHAINSAW remake). I think true horror comes from a constant, growing sense of dread and malice. If you'll recall, the original TCSM had virtually no gore, and yet it's one of the most terrifying films ever made.
SESSION 9 was notable to me, first and foremost, for the characters. The five main characters weren't just stock characters waiting to get killed off, they were fully fleshed out, complex human beings. That was really interesting right there; I love a horror movie that actually has a story it wants to tell rather than just scare you, even if that story is flawed.
But the real star of the movie was the setting. The Danvers State Mental Hospital, the real-life abandoned 100+ years old asylum with an all-too-real dark and unsettling past of its own. To give you an idea, this was the building that inspired Arkham Asylum. (well, at least, inspiration for Lovecraft, whose work inspired the Batman creators. Splitting hairs) I was so sad to have discovered that they finally tore it down earlier this year, because man, to have seen that building, wow. It has to be seen to be believed, and I mean inside and out. This has to have been one of the scariest damn places on earth. The makers of SESSION 9 didn't have to dress the set or anything to make it creepier, it was actually just like it was in the movie.
Beyond that, I don't really have anything to say about the movie that wouldn't be a spoiler. But flaws aside, it's totally worth watching for the building itself and the amazing, horrifying atmosphere it provides. It's not exactly "style over substance" because with this kind of horror, the style is the substance.
I've really been meaning to write up my opinions of what I think make a truly scary move, but at some later point when I'm not brain-fried from working the comic shop and memorizing lines for THE DAVID DANCE. Off-book tonight!!!
gawayn about a year ago. And ok, I have my complaints, I suppose. I mean, the plot was convoluted and muddled and I'm still not certain what I think of the ending. But regardless, I'm still tempted to call this one of the best horror movies I've ever seen.And when I say "horror", I don't mean gore and monsters and splatter and all that. I mean horror in the sense of the original THE HAUNTING and TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, of PSYCHO, THE SHINING, John Carptenter's THE THING and the criminally underappreciated (and perhaps my second favorite horror movie of all time) EXORCIST III. True horror, in my opinion, is not just in shock. Any idiot can go "Boo!" It takes no creativity to go "Boo!" (like the entirety of the horrible TEXAS CHAINSAW remake). I think true horror comes from a constant, growing sense of dread and malice. If you'll recall, the original TCSM had virtually no gore, and yet it's one of the most terrifying films ever made.
SESSION 9 was notable to me, first and foremost, for the characters. The five main characters weren't just stock characters waiting to get killed off, they were fully fleshed out, complex human beings. That was really interesting right there; I love a horror movie that actually has a story it wants to tell rather than just scare you, even if that story is flawed.
But the real star of the movie was the setting. The Danvers State Mental Hospital, the real-life abandoned 100+ years old asylum with an all-too-real dark and unsettling past of its own. To give you an idea, this was the building that inspired Arkham Asylum. (well, at least, inspiration for Lovecraft, whose work inspired the Batman creators. Splitting hairs) I was so sad to have discovered that they finally tore it down earlier this year, because man, to have seen that building, wow. It has to be seen to be believed, and I mean inside and out. This has to have been one of the scariest damn places on earth. The makers of SESSION 9 didn't have to dress the set or anything to make it creepier, it was actually just like it was in the movie.
Beyond that, I don't really have anything to say about the movie that wouldn't be a spoiler. But flaws aside, it's totally worth watching for the building itself and the amazing, horrifying atmosphere it provides. It's not exactly "style over substance" because with this kind of horror, the style is the substance.
I've really been meaning to write up my opinions of what I think make a truly scary move, but at some later point when I'm not brain-fried from working the comic shop and memorizing lines for THE DAVID DANCE. Off-book tonight!!!
