Habit (1997)

I absolutely love Larry Fessenden; though not all his movies are masterpieces, I feel he generally has his heart in the right place when doing horror. He is a unique, creative filmmaker, and he's not afraid to try something different at times, whether it's popular or not.Habit is an early film of his. From what I gather, it's basically a bigger remake of a film he'd previously written and directed. I was very impressed with Habit, both as an independent film, and as a horror/vampire flick There's something about the mood, the aesthetic throughout, I'm really a fan of. Even early on, there's a certain look and feel to Habit that grabs me. As far as acting goes, I really enjoyed Fessenden in the main role here. He is natural, cool, at times excitable and playful. It's a joy to watch him play the character of Sam. I really felt for him: his father just died, he meets a beautiful woman who interests him after his girlfriend has moved out on him, he's suddenly fairly ill. There's a tension Fessenden creates, between his character and the mood; it all makes things very suspenseful. I found myself hoping Sam could overcome it all- even hoping he was just wrong about everything, or that it would all just turn out to be a strange set of coincidences. Gripping stuff. The character of Anna was wonderful- a great take on vampires! There are a few moments I had to rewind and watch again because I wanted to make sure I'd caught the small hints. Meredith Snaider IS Anna: a sensual, wild woman, who may or may not be a vampire. She seduces anyone in her path. Yet she is sort of cute in a way; not innocent, but just cute. At times she throws you off. Other times, she is a little spooky. Snaider and Fessenden clearly had chemistry from the original film they'd shot in the 1980s, so it's no wonder they both play well off one another.The story is a well-crafted look at a man who could be going crazy- or maybe he contracted some terrible, unspeakable STD from the new woman he met at a Halloween party. Or maybe, just maybe, Sam is right, and the new woman he met at that party is a vampire, sucking his blood, sucking the blood of others... maybe.9 out of 10 stars, and highly recommended. I hesitate to give it the full ten star rating only because of the character Nick (I believe that's his name.. i.e the annoyingly pretentious seeming best friend of Sam); he was horrible, and Fessenden wrote terrible dialogue for him. Other than that I think the film is a work of art, and is one of the few vampire films in the last thirty years not to disappoint with lame representations of the undead.

Larry Fessenden could show a few of the current horror film and dark movie people (writers, directors, producers and casting) something about sex, vampires and life. No budget and in badly in need of dental work, Larry has out performed many an over-budgeted badly written flick. The sex scenes were not at a loss with being simulated, but were in fact, HOT!!! Blood letting was at a minimum and still scary as hell. Anna underplayed her VAMPIE to a new high. I just saw this tonight (10/22/2006) and it became an immediate favorite. Whoa, had to write this with my pulse still racing and looking over my shoulder for the missing "ANNA". Great job Larry (but I guess you know that)!! That was a kick in the GOTH. Sorry I didn't see it sooner, but will own it soon. Wayne A. McDowell, AKA; Kulddy Jones, kulddy-1, [email protected].

I am a big fan of horror movies but this movie was not like any other horror one. It made one uncomfortable as the main actor life is a mess, he's troubled and the girl who comes into his life is an uncomfortable creature from the beginning. There are movies designed to give you a bad feeling, not horror but just uneasiness and disturbance and Habit is certainly one of them. If you like disturbing movies, watch this one. Also, I was confused why at the last scene, the garlics would not hurt Anna at all as a Vampire. Sam got a call from a friend that warned him about her but he never called back so we could see how other people could be warned of her presence. I also wonder if the ex-girlfriend was finally murdered by Sam? Lots of question marks for me .

Contains possible spoilers. If you get this thinking you're going to see Bram Stoker's Dracula or Blade, get back in line for the latest Hollywood blockbuster and drop your subscription to IFC & Sundance because it just isn't that kind of vampire movie. If you like dark-themed movies about self-destruction, then definitely check out Habit. What I like best about this film is that it leaves it up to the viewer to decide for themselves whether Anne is a vampire or if Sam just totally flips his lid. I think that with the death of his father and his girlfriend moving out, that Sam, already an alcoholic, is near the breaking point. When he discovers his new sex interest's unusual fetish, his paranoid, delirious mind runs with her taste for blood and causes him to see her as a vampire. Take note of the scene where Sam is receiving the award for his father: when Anne approaches him and the professor, there is a brief glimpse of her as another woman completely, which could be alluding to her either being completely physically different from how Sam sees her or, if she is a vampire, that she's a shapeshifter. Both possibilities apply depending on how you look at the question of is she real or is it all in his head. I think the same question could apply to the sex scenes: are they real or did they do an excellent job of simulating them?