Habit

Released Nov 14, 1997

1h 52m

Horror

List

75%

20 Reviews

Tomatometer

62%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Sam (Larry Fessenden), a down-and-out New Yorker who is grieving over his father's death and has just broken up with his girlfriend, is lost in an alcoholic haze. When he meets the seductive Anna (Meredith Snaider) at a party, he immediately falls under her spell. Soon, Sam is pulled into a sporadic relationship with the mysterious woman, and their trysts increasingly involve blood being shed, slowly affirming his suspicion that he may be dating an actual vampire.

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Joe H

🤔 Great acting, great directing. Absolutely the most boring vampire movie I've ever seen. Cinematic greatness just doesn't cut it here. Most of us want substance in a vampire movie. Peace!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

With its low-budget and understated look, "Habit" just feels so real.....

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Fassenden's attempt to do a vampire film is hampered by its small budget which is clearly evident throughout the production. A good low budget director can compensate and make an audience forget that short cuts are being taken. It doesn't happen here.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

very strange vampire movie

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sam's life isnt exactly all roses. His father has died and his girlfriend has dumped him so he spends pretty much all his time hitting the bottle hard. He works part-time at a bar which helps but everything begins to change for him when he meets Anna, a mysterious girl, at a mutual friends party. After that night he can't stop thinking about her and soon enough they begin to see each other. Only problem is that Anna could very well be a vampire. Larry Fessenden's Habit is a minimalistic vampire film that focuses heavily on character development. The script is very well written and has a few truly memorable lines but it's how it paints this fully dimensional character in Sam which makes it truly stand out for me. As a viewer I completely bought everything Larry Fessenden does as Sam. In subtle ways we learn about his fears and things from his past that make him the man he is. He is really an ugly human being whose down-troden attitude are both comical and kinda disgusting. The scene at dinner where he stuffs his face is a perfect example. Of course the vampire aspects of the film are great as well. As Sam is first affected he has all sorts of strange sensory overloads which are well illustrated. There are also some truly eerie amazing dream sequences in the film when Sam begins to feel a transformation beginning and quite frankly they are quite the mind fuck. Its a great example of what a low-budget film can be. It's creatively shot, focused and interesting.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

easily the best vampire movie I've seen in a very long time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Larry Fessenden

Director

Larry Fessenden

Sam

Meredith Snaider

Anna

Aaron Beall

Nick

Patricia Coleman

Rae

Heather Woodbury

Liza

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Joshua Katzman

Chicago Reader

In the spin that Fessenden gives the vampire flick, we’re all ultimately our own worst enemies, ushering in the agents of our own demise.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 15, 2022

Full Review

Keith Phipps

AV Club

This has been a good decade for movies about New York vampires.

Oct 20, 2009

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Another hip vampire drama set in New York's East Village, small budget indie Habit manages to impress with plausible scripting, first-rate performances and an unsettling mood of mounting dread.

Oct 20, 2009

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

It captures a certain gritty New York energy of the period, not unlike the texture of a Larry Cohen production. Fessenden gives a great performance as a man headed for a breakdown.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 20, 2020

Full Review

Maitland McDonagh

TV Guide

Despite its low budget, the assets of Fessenden's film include startlingly rich cinematography and an above-average cast, most of whom have roots in New York's downtown performance scene.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 20, 2009

Full Review

Merle Bertrand

Film Threat

Do we really need yet another vampire movie? Sure, about as much as we needed another movie about that ship that ruined a perfectly good iceberg.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 6, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Sam (Larry Fessenden), a down-and-out New Yorker who is grieving over his father's death and has just broken up with his girlfriend, is lost in an alcoholic haze. When he meets the seductive Anna (Meredith Snaider) at a party, he immediately falls under her spell. Soon, Sam is pulled into a sporadic relationship with the mysterious woman, and their trysts increasingly involve blood being shed, slowly affirming his suspicion that he may be dating an actual vampire.

Director: Larry Fessenden
Screenwriter: Larry Fessenden
Distributor: Passport Pictures
Production Co: Glass Eye Pix
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 14, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 16, 2019
Runtime: 1h 52m

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