2001’s top Cult Horror Movie Might Actually Get a Prequel Movie, And the Title Is Perfect
Before the year 2001 became seriously horrific for real in September, it gave us some great horror movies that have only risen in estimation in the years since. Shockingly, one of the best came from a director who was mostly known for romantic comedies at the time — though he’d later become better known for a movie in which Christian Bale starved himself into a skeletal nightmare physique. The movie was one about asbestos removal, and it starred David Caruso, who had become a bit of a punchline due to leaving TV’s NYPD Blue at the height of its success to pursue a film career that mostly flopped.
Shot at a real abandoned asylum, and also starring intense Scottish actor-director Peter Mullan, Brad Anderson’s Session 9 had a real slow-burn fear factor to it. As the crew removes asbestos, they discover old files of a former patient with multiple personalities — and one of them might still be around and messing with them. Session 9 had the terrible scheduling misfortune of opening in limited release on the same day as The Others, a higher-profile haunted house movie starring Nicole Kidman that was immediately acclaimed. (Kidman recently said she’d like to do a sequel.) That week, there was only room for one scary movie at the box office. Still, over the years, everyone who has seen Session 9 and liked it has spread the word. They’ve also wanted more of the story and now they just might get it.
The Time May Be Right for Session 1
At Mass Mini Con this past weekend, director Brad Anderson and writer-actor Stephen Gevedon held a panel to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Session 9. As filmed by Broke Horror Fan, via Bloody Disgusting, the two mentioned that they are actually working on a prequel called Session 1. The movie would be about the original patient whose audiotapes are recovered in Session 9, who killed her whole family in the ’60s, in Boston.
Session 9 constantly hedges its bets as to whether what you’re seeing is supernatural, or plausibly the work of a human who’s watching. On the DVD commentary track, Anderson mostly seems to lean towards non-supernatural explanations. A prequel that lays out the full story of the patient might have to plant a flag either in reality or a definite haunting. But whichever way it goes, the first film pulled off its narrative tightrope so deftly that there’s reason to believe they could do it again.
Keep in mind, the fact that Anderson and Gevedon are working on a prequel doesn’t mean they have distribution for one, until they say so. Considering that the budget for the first was only $1.5 million, though, which was cheap even in 2001, and they don’t need to bring back any of the same actors, it would seem like a gimme for a movie that has a passionate fan base, however small. Five years ago, they suggested the rights were tied up by Focus Features, so this seems like a positive step forward.
