Larry Fessenden is a NYC indie film-maker (actor, director, producer, whatever) who has developed something of a speciality in off-beat little horror films. Fessenden is one of a handful of people who can draw me a movie because, even if it isn't good, it will probably be interesting. His movies are generally low key and ambiguous. If you are looking for splatter gore, then move along, there is not much to see here. But if you like your horror more psychological than physical, and you don't mind a heavy dose of NYC indie-ness, you'll find a lot to like in Habit.

I tend to be critical of vampire movies. I love vampires. I love Bella Lugosi. I had mad crushes on Christopher Lee and Frank Langella. I love the bloated, semi-vaporous vampires of central european lore. I love reimagined vampires, silly "life force" vampires, outer-space vampires. I even love moody, romantic, euro-trash, clubbing vampires - in each case, if they are done well. But they almost never are. Most vampire movies suck, and not in a hot, orally-fixated way. If I never see another vampire movie (or TV series) that looks like it was filmed on a CBC backlot in Vancouver by people whose sense of cool ossified while watching Skinemax in 1988 it will be just fine. But if you think that the last impressive vampire movie was Near Dark, Habit is probably right up your alley.

Larry Fessenden directs and plays Sam, a loser who works in a subterranean dive bar, in all his toothless glory. Sam's a drunk, his dad just died, he's losing his hair, his girlfriend dumped him, and he's in all-around pathetic condition. He shows up drunk (sloppy, embarrasing drunk) at a friend's Halloween party, and meets Anna, who is glaringly, obviously, way too hot for him. (Downtown indie-chick hot, but still, way too hot for him.) She's mysterious, but they become something of an item and get hot and heavy (though she likes biting). Sam starts to feel weak and sick, his buddy goes missing, his friends and ex are worried, and Sam starts to realize that something is very, very wrong.

One of the things I liked about this movie is that it gets nearly to the third act before it actually acknowledges that Anna is a vampire, even though this is patently obvious. And then it is in a hilarious scene where Sam tells his best friend and basically comes unhinged about how completely insane he knows he sounds. (Which his friend completely agrees with, telling him to quit drinking and get an AIDS test.) The film flirts with the idea that maybe Sam might just be a halucinating drunk, but that's not really a serious suggestion. Instead, the subtlety (and interest) comes from the fact that Sam KNOWS he's a halucinating drunk, but we and he also know what Anna is anyway.

Also, I quite liked that Anna is a very traditional vampire: like Carmilla early-19th-century traditional, very rules bound, and more ghost than monster. And I liked the inevitability of an unhappy ending, no matter what the ending is - Sam is such a total disaster even before Anna shows up that there is no way for things to end well for him.

Habit is a great horror (and vampire) movie, if you prefer your horror more thinky than gory.

8.5 out of 10.