Habit

Fessenden embodies much that is great about no-budget, maverick filmmaking. I appreciated his color palette of browns and blacks, and like Polanski's `Repulsion' he manages to place you into the heart of a character on a downward spiral while referencing back to the vampire film. The lingering question for much of the film is, simply, is he going bonkers because of emotional stress or is she a blood sucking vampire draining him dry?

Wisely, Fessenden avoids any overt references to vampirism for almost the entire film, allowing the viewer to determine what is happening. He avoids the clumsy exposition which populates so many films. In a brief moment when Sam encounters his ex at a Halloween party, they make no reference to breaking up or ever having been together; he simply asks her how her apartment hunt is going and offers to help her move, and the way theyinteract says it all. The film is filled with moments like this.

It also helps that the film is shot in such a creepy way, giving the mundane aspects of his life a jolt. The major setpieces at a masked Halloween party or at a carnival evoke mystery and dread without resorting to vampires jumping out at you.

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'!

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.

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.

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.