User reviews

New York restaurant owner Sam (Larry Fessenden) meets the sexy, mysterious, short haired Anna at a Halloween party and falls head over heels in lust over her. He dumps his bland girlfriend and proposes a relationship, but eventually discovers that Anna's strange, kinky behavior (like blood cravings and never eating, smoking, drinking or going out in daylight) is actually attributed to the fact that she's a vampire.

Good use is made out of various NYC locations, the unknown actors are decent, the songs are good and the script (by the director) is well written. Fessenden, who is missing a front tooth, is also a refreshingly anti-Hollywood type of leading man. He also served as editor and did the sound for this respectable, but often bland, effort, which played several film festivals, including Sundance.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good this film was despite it's serious lack of budget. The film follows the trail of an alcoholic restaurant manager, emotionally distraught over the recent death of his Hemingway-esque father and a break up with a girlfriend. He succumbs to an innocent-looking yet mysterious woman at a party and his "downward spiral" begins. There are a few flaws I saw in this movie, namely that if one is going for the "is this real or all in his head?" angle perhaps more should have been developed for the vampire girl. Was she really a vampire or wasn't she? It seems fairly obvious in some scenes that she was but it could be argued that the lead character's shaky hold on sanity made him imagine some of this. A tighter script could have helped. Good sex scenes, which one rarely finds in a horror film, and some better-than-average acting make this film really enjoyable despite some of the script's flaws.

This film isn't for people who want wooden stake sticking action. A lot of people will find it very slow. But I found it to be one of the most interesting films that I have ever seen. It vampirism is mostly a sub-plot here. Mainly it is about this guy, Sam, who works at a bar, and who meets this girl after recently breaking up from his girlfriend. The movie talks about lust, betrayal, love, seduction, and frienship. It is filmed with great cinematography. I am not talking about sweeping landscapes, but I am talking about how things around you can look like they are collapsing on you when you start getting paranoid that you have this weird illness. A very good quality picture. I loved it, and I highly recommend it to people who want to see real characters will some real problems.

A very good, kind of disturbing modern vampire story. Its hero is a guy on the rebound who has a circle of friends, a small inheritance, and no direction in life. He meets an alluring woman who seduces him into sado-masochistic sex addiction, and the film continues to play with the concepts essential to Vampirism and modern life. Good performances from all, particularly Fessenden (also the director) and Aaron Beall as his hypocritical friend. Chilling atmosphere on a very low budget. Some obvious writing, but well executed style pulls it off. Particularly memorable is Fessenden's desperate meat fix, where he licks the drainings out of the bottom of a supermarket meat container. Fans of vampire movies of quality should definately check this out.

A film dripping in 90s independent aesthetics and dialog about vampirism in the modern day.

Director, Writer, Editor, and Actor Fessenden loves horror movies. If you ever get a chance to listen to one of his interviews it becomes clear he's a historian and an amateur philosopher regarding film in general but especially the classic monster movies. He is someone who was attracted to the metaphors of all the original text of novels like Frankenstein and, in this case, Dracula. So when he set out to pay homage to one of literature's great monsters, he focused on the intent instead of the plot.

In Fessenden's retelling, the lead vampire is a woman, Anna, and she is someone who I believe has a genuine interest in our hero Sam. I'm sure she is driven by blood lust as much as anyone from the subject's lore, but she seems to really desire Sam as well and even mentions she is doing her best to make his transition slow given that she likes him.

The world Fessenden creates in Habit feels very similar to a mumblecore film, or a low budget 90s New York yuppie emo drama. Sam is a trust fund kid, his friends dress nice and are the bookish types who like to wax intellectual and casually drop soliloquies about vampirism as a metaphor for the state of the world in 1995.

It is a movie that is firmly time and place mid 90s, and one I have a soft spot for. Habit actually reminds me of Whit Stillman a bit. Habit and something like Last Days of Disco would make an interesting double feature about well educated manhattan socialites with problems.

I didn't care for Habit. I can see where a certain kind of viewer, those that like movies like Taxi Driver. However for the person looking for a good vampire film I would strongly recommend against this independent film. Nothing much happens in this, it's a 20-minute story stretched out to 112 minutes of nothing.

Habit is an intense sort of character study, I suppose it might be called, the sort more often found in films set at some family's weekend of isolation in spending time together. Classic independent film fodder and thus dreadful boring for anyone looking for action, adventure, or cool visuals.

The best thing that I can say for it is that it seems to leave open the question of if the vampire survives. I think it would be interesting to see a vampire story where the protagonist dies and the vampire simply continues, make a point about predators usually winning against the prey. Also it was rather nice to see something other than Hollywood pretty boy in the role of victim.

But I must emphasize again that this is a movie for people just watching people interact with only a bit of supernatural and people phoning in their performances from too cool for emotion New York.

I can't hope to match the eloquence of the other commentors, but to try: The is the best, most compelling film I have seen in years. In fact, it is the only film I've seen in years which I feel deserves the effort of comment. And to think I almost missed it -- I inherited it when a friend closed his video store.

I lived downtown in NYC for 20 years where I had my own bouts with obsession and addiction, have spent time hopelessly ill on the LIE, now live in East Hampton where I have enjoyed the "hypocrisy" of Thanksgiving at a table full of friends and neighbors and have occasionally flung myself into a freezing ocean. I can safely say that this incredibly talented filmmaker and his fellow artists have captured it all beyond words -- which is I guess what film is supposed to be all about. The female lead is beyond exceptional.

On Saturday I asked a film producer neighbor to check out this movie and tell me why these people aren't famous.

A New York man, Sam, has just split with his girlfriend. He is lonely, but soon becomes interested in a stranger, Anna, whom he meets at a party. However, strange things start to happen and Anna may be hiding something.

It is an interesting and admirable idea to make a horror film based on mood and character rather than gore and nudity. It is much harder as fear has to be conjured up from seemingly innocent things. Horror films of this nature require more build-up and convincing drama so that they can turn it into something frightening later. The drama must be convincing so that the fear spawned out if it is also genuine.

"Habit" tries to get at just that, but it doesn't quite make it though. Certain sequences are really drawn out and by the end almost anyone could feel the fact that the film could be brisker instead of the drawn out hour and fifty minutes. For one the several nightmare sequences are well done, but they aren't really connected and the mysterious aura around Anna doesn't seem complete. However, despite the film's shortcomings it doesn't pad itself with sucker punches and cheap thrills. The sex scenes in particular are non-stylized yet strangely erotic.

Good honest try with no cop-out, but still not all it could have been. --- 6/10

Not Rated. The sexual content makes this one for audiences 16+

Fascinating movie! Apparently Larry Fessenden is someone to keep an eye on, as his past work (some short films) has been critically acclaimed at Cannes. I don't know how Habit was received, but it is awesome. It takes a familiar theme (vampire/sex/etc.) and completely distorts it into an unexpected, unparalleled cinematic treat. Sort of like a grown up Lost Boys, without the cheesiness. The performances are mesmerizing (Larry himself play the David Yow look-a-like lead alcoholic), the camera work is intriguing, the overall creepy-yet realistic mood all work together to make this a must-see movie for anyone who hates mundane, mainstream fluff.

This slow moving independent film turned out be a great genre vampire flick with a cinema verite feel. Despite a low budget, the acting, soundtrack and New York location evokes a mood of gritty alienation as Sam spirals towards self destruction. If you enjoy horror and you don't expect a Hollywood blockbuster, check it out.

7/10

Part two of Fessenden's "Trilogy of Horror." After watching this and "No Telling" together, I think Fessenden sets out to convey a message with the backdrop of a horror movie. Unfortunately, it isn't ever clear what exactly he is trying to say! Still, I have a hard time disliking his ambitious work. Fessenden directed, wrote, and starred in this one. He has an offbeat presence that somehow manages to be simultaneously off-putting and charming. He does an outstanding job of portraying Sam, a man falling apart mentally and physically who turns to addiction. At first it's alcohol, and then kinky sex with a new mystery woman that gets a little bloody--but he can't give it up. The atmosphere and set (NYC at night), as well as the depressing music, succeed in making Sam's downfall seem believable. I really appreciate Fessenden's attention to sound--the best things about his films, I think. That said, this movie isn't very scary, the message gets muddled towards the ending, and the lead actress delivers a flat and forgettable performance. Still, it's a very admirable low-budget horror effort.

A real vampire. Real characters. Real personal problems. Reality getting down on the vampiric mythos, impaling it down on one hell of a "this-is-true" spike.

But isn't cinema supposed to represent reality on another level? I mean, yeah, it looks believable, it sounds believable... but Larry Fessenden, director and main character, forgot one thing : we humans live with SIX senses!!! To look and sound real just makes it boring. We have to smell, touch, taste and use-this-magic-eye-thinking-thing to obtain all life colors and savors. Some movies find ways to make us feel all these things, my putting more into seeing and hearing. Not this one.

To be brief, Habit just looks like a REALLY boring New York movie. Hell, I never want to go to this city, even if I know this picture is depreciating the real thing.

Anyway, it doesn't seems real at all. Characters are always bored or drunk, always partying (and what boring parties) or on their asses, drooling at walls. Music just doesn't sounds right. And the film is long... O SOOOOO long. Does Fessenden knows that the word "CUT!" is essential, in movie editing?

It is sad for me to critic an underground picture, because I just loooovveee these movies... some just don't fall into the right hands.

For new-york spleen movie lovers (or Polanski Repulsion fans) only.

A great vampire film full of realistic eroticism, Habit is one of the best small-scale independent films ever made. The film is stunning on many levels- narrative ambiguity (is she a vampire or not?), incredible visuals and a beautifully detailed soundtrack all combine to make a dark and mysterious film that is more interested in character than in gore.

The video box makes you think this vampire flick is something that shouldn't be missed, but. . .it's overlong and boring. Nothing really happens, there are no spectacular special effects, and they try to make up for lack of story by stringing along 50 sex scenes, but they don't help at all. The acting is alright (I just have to say the main guy needs dental implants though), but they try so hard to make the film sexy and suspenseful that it comes across as contrived and boring. Also, whoever made this film was probably influenced by "Basket Case" (it has the same atmosphere and a nude jogging scene) and "Graveyard Shift" (for it's depiction of vampires). If you see this turkey at your local video store -- avoid it! Rent "Basket Case," "Graveyard Shift" or even the TV series "Kindred, the Embraced" instead!

The best vampire movie since George A. Romero's 'Martin'. This one's a bit low-key but very well acted and contains some erotically charged sex scenes. The lead male character played by the wacky Larry Fessenden, complains of feeling weak, drained and a bit sick; which surely is the only downside of being accosted by a truly sexed up vamp, named Anna. Get the 'habit'!

The bad movie against which I measure all other bad movies. Nothing else ever comes close to bumping it off the worst position. The director seems overfond of shots of himself peeing. Perhaps a fetish for urination is what's required to enjoy this. What ever it takes seems to be something I'm missing. I have never walked out of a movie, but this would have been the first. I was ready to get up and leave after half an hour, but that's when I realized my companion (usually an insomniac)was sleeping peacefully. I felt obligated to finish the the movie so she could sleep, and I've never let her forget the things I'll endure for friendship!