Habit (1995) Review

Sam (Larry Fessenden) is not exactly in the best of psychological health. His father has recently passed away. His girlfriend Liza (Heather Woodbury) is in the process of moving out and becoming his ex. He has a four day a week job as the manager of a restaurant/bar but he seems to be managing that little better than he’s managing himself, spending much of his time in an alcoholic haze. At a Halloween party, Sam meets the mysterious Anna (Meredith Snaider) and the two embark on a strange, sporadic relationship. After every encounter with Anna, Sam finds more and more cuts and bloody wounds on his body and, as his physical and mental health deteriorates further, one question begins to prey upon Sam’s mind: Is Anna a vampire?

Originally developed while Larry Fessenden was in film school at NYU, shot as a short in 1982 and then given the Glass Eye Pix feature treatment years down the line, Habit has the loose, arthouse feel of an academic project married to the technical excellence of focused, indie filmmaking with a committed cast and crew. The New York exteriors and the party scenes feel like they’re shot on the fly, which lends the production the authentic vibrancy of an early Abel Ferrara movie. However, this balances the scuzz with an affectionate portrait of the city, regardless of some terrible things which may, or may not, be happening.

While I’m talking about Ferrara, his vampire movie The Addiction flew in during roughly the same time frame as Habit but both movies have their own specific take on the myth of the bloodsucker. Fessenden’s vision is a clear and impressive one, so while Abel delivered a monochrome experience in philosophy, Larry leaned into real life, downbeat sludge and scares, delivering a number of creepy images and a series of sex scenes which have much of the eroticism drained from them because they’re so disturbing, capturing perfectly the craving Sam has for Anna.

Much of Habit avoids direct explanation but, rather than that becoming an increasing annoyance, this decision assists the tale incredibly well. Anna’s, er, habit of showing up at night, when Sam least expects it, feeds into the mystery of who she is, or might be, as does her refusal to divulge any details of her job. At one point, she vanishes from a shot entirely. Is this some kind of supernatural ability or Sam’s booze addled state blurring what he – and the viewer – is seeing? It provokes discussion without being pretentious.

The advantage of having Larry Fessenden on board as the main driving force behind Habit also meant that he could cast himself as the lead without studio interference. His striking but distinctly un-Hollywood features, the permanently unkempt shock of hair, the missing tooth – all of this adds to the portrayal in ways that would never be captured by some bland, chiselled star attempting to look like and down and out. Both Fessenden’s playing and writing rarely makes Sam especially likeable but he’s a fascinating, self-destructive sort who doesn’t seem to care much about the people in his life. I was going to use the term “friends” but most of them seem to be more like acquaintances who hang out together with only passing concerns about everyone’s general wellbeing.

As the object of Sam’s affection/obsession, Snaider scores as the cool, collected Anna. Her controlled, often perplexing presence is unsettling without her having to behave in anything but the most rational, matter of fact way and her calm is the yin and to the yang of Sam’s chaos. There’s more than an air of Sam not even being in it for the long haul, as his alcoholism is referred to as “committing suicide on the instalment plan” and his view of love is that it “ends in sadness.” There’s little that’s redemptive here, although much of the plotting is oblique enough that you never know if this is going to pull out an ending that’s less laden with doom than everything that’s preceded it.

Habit refuses to go out of its way to explain what’s going on and is all the better for it. As a vampire movie, it doesn’t even mention that particular concept until a decent chunk of its runtime has elapsed, although there’s an extended scene in which Sam postulates this theory to his friend Nick (Aaron Beall) who seems dismissive, even slightly annoyed, when face with an idea more interesting and theatrical than he is. It’s only Liza who provides an anchor as the voice of reason and even she seems worn down, having run out of ways to assist her previous partner.

We’ve all seen vampire movies, we all know the legends, we’ve all seen the classics. Habit gleefully throws away all of the expected rules and narrative structure to present a study of a man consumed by his own demons and falling prey to a new, different kind of fix, enabled by an environment which allows him to carry on jonesing for the next hit without anyone attempting to stop him. It’s a bold, offbeat piece of work and Fessenden’s shambolic, spectral star turn will stay with you.

Movie Rating:

Habit trailer