I had a feeling Brad Anderson's Masters of Horror entry, Sounds Like, would be grim. Anderson's critically acclaimed low-budget thriller, Session 9, remains one of the most grim and cerebrally horrifying movies I've ever seen. Whenever I recommend Session 9, I describe it as one of those movies that made me hear things at night. Only two other movies to date have had that effect on me: The Exorcist and The Blair Witch Project. The Exorcist stands out as way more "in the face" (in more ways than pea soup) of the three, but Blair Witch and Session 9 both delivered that subtle, "crawl in the brain and haunt me for days" effect, which is my favorite kind of horror.I believe the most powerful link between these three films is the masterful use of sound, both subliminal and overt. It's no surprise that The Exorcist is known for using subliminal sound throughout the film, as well as huge contrasts between silence and audio assault to increase the feeling of terror and dread. For me, the mo...
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