Platypuschow Okay so let me paint you a picture. Guy breaks up with girlfriend, falls apart and turns to alcohol & partying. You still with me? Great. Now what does one do under these circumstances? Get laid? Start a hobby? Hit the dating scene? Post your ex a parcel full of dog poop? These are all viable options but this guy decides to do something different, he decides to date a vampire (As you do)As you can imagine this is no standard love story, in fact I'm not sure it's a love story at all. Gritty, dark, devoid of any type of humour and doesn't make the easiest watching but still has it's merits. For a start our lead female was oddly enthralling, as far as vampires go shes closer on the scale to Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997) than Leslie Nielsens Dracula in Dracula Dead & Loving It (1995). Weirdly paced and with an ending that I found a real anti-climax Habit isn't a terrible film it was just made by terrible people who should have turned this premise into something considerably better.

Andy (film-critic) Fessenden, who not only does work behind the camera, but also as the main character named Sam, gives us a glimpse of New York city circa 1990. Times seem to be tough, Sam works nights as a bartender and has found (after the death of his dad), that drinking dulls most of the pains. One of our first introductions with Sam is at a party, where he arrives drunk and continues to drink throughout the course of the evening. It is during this party that we meet the somewhat sensual Anna, who immediately locks target with Sam. She entrances him similar to what Dracula did to Miss Mina, but in an eerie role reversal. They continue their gathering outside, but in Sam's drunken stupor, he misses the opportunity to connect with Anna. Not to worry vampire lovers, they reconnect after Anna supposedly snacks on one of Sam's friends – and the two begin a very physical courtship. Oddly, Anna only appears at night, away from friends, and will not tell Sam anything about her. She bits his lip, he thins its foreplay. It dramatically changes when Sam seems to get sick over time, forgetting the simplest of tasks, and eventually driving himself mad with scenarios of what Anna may be doing to him. Of coarse, nobody believes him, so not only does he battle with Anna's vying but also with his friends who seem to believe he is slowly going mad, which becomes the eventual focus to this film. We are left with this surprising question in our minds as Fessenden ends with anything but your moment of zen.I would like to begin by saying that I thought this was an extremely strong outing for a low-budget director. I wasn't hoping for Troma level, and I didn't get it. I wasn't hoping for another repeat of "Def By Temptation", and thankfully it never showed. What I witnessed with this film was an innovated director reinventing an old genre. Hollywood continues every year to do this type of story, but their moments seem stale and recycled more than innovative and classic. Fessenden uses his mind and truly makes a terrifying film that questions the basics of the vampire genre and relates them to modern cinema. It is almost like a horror version of "Fight Club" except not as strong. He uses violence, nudity, and realism to bring this fictional story into the light of New York City taking us to places that are familiar and at most, extremely spooky. This is not a bad film, but I cannot boast that it is perfect. It is continually flawed, forcing your to focus on the story because at times the acting is laughable at best and his "A to B to C" logic seems too overloaded and detailed. The acting, outside of the verbal slandering of Aaron Beall's Nick, was just poor. This could have been tightened up a bit to create stronger scenes between the characters. I thought Sam was "acting" like he was drunk more than he was, the moments of intimacy seemed to be wanted instead of needed, and as we get closer to the end, the moments between Nick and Rae seem distant and lost. Strength in the words would have tightened up this loose end.Secondly, I had trouble with parts of the story. I don't want to disregard what Fessenden has done here because I think it is a strong moment in cinematic glory, but just small ends that needed to be less loose. He started so strong with "Habit" that he couldn't keep the momentum flowing until the end. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when he walks by a artist doing nude photos at night – a moment that seems similar to the movie that we are watching, but I loose it when he goes to Rae's grandmother's house and the Thanksgiving dinner there. Fessenden also seems a bit loose on the entire "loosing his father" moments that seem to peak in and out of existence throughout the film. I think that it helps us understand Sam's moments of insanity – especially near the end – but we needed more spent towards his father than at the ocean with friends. There just seemed to be an unbalance in the force. There are my only two complaints about the film (outside the fact I wished there was a director commentary), because I think Fessenden can do a decent job – just don't go off focus.Overall, I would suggest this film to only a select number of friends – those that appreciate the cinematic art. I say this because to the unwilling eye, this will look like a cheap "B" horror film that teeters on nothing, but I saw so much more than that. I saw a skilled director revisiting his old work to bring back into the public eye. This is a great film about vampires, or at least the idea of vampires – but it is not for everyone. It leaves the story open-ended, giving us a chance to make decisions for ourselves and that, in itself, is what creates the true horror.Oh, what about that goofy video that didn't seem to fit with the film – I guess I could do without that again, but I digress...Grade: *** out of *****

kulddy jones 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].

funkyfry 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.