Rounding out my coverage for Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2024 is a film that I’m in love with. I’ll be upfront about it. Habit is a five-out-of-five film for me. Rather than a typical review, though, I think it would be fun to highlight what made the screening so special and what makes in-person screenings (as well as BHFF) such a remarkable experience. Let’s talk about my night seeing Larry Fessenden’s Habit.

For those who aren’t aware, Habit is a sobering (pun intended?) look at addiction through many different lenses. Like many of the vampire films of the 80s and 90s, the argument can be made of allegories surrounding AIDS, but there’s a much stronger commentary around alcoholism and addiction. Habit follows Sam (Larry Fessenden), who is an alcoholic reeling from the recent loss of his father. Sam meets Anna (Meredith Snaider) at a Halloween party and quickly falls for her. His life spirals as Anna sucks away his life force day by day. Every aspect of Sam’s life becomes nothing more than a biding of time until he can see Anna again. Can Sam overcome his lust, or will Anna become the conduit of his downfall?

After scarfing down a few beef birria tacos, and a couple of Coronas, I was ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Nitehawk Cinema offered a themed drink to accompany the film: Blood Energy Potion. Apple brandy, benedictine, pomegranate, cranberry, hibiscus, and lemon were mixed together and served in, no lie, a blood bag. With a blood bag, and a Miller High Life, set before me, I was now ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

Before the film started, Larry was invited to the front of the theater by Jen Wexler (The Ranger, The Sacrifice Game). Larry was presented with the Arrow Video Leviathan Award. It was a beautiful way to start the film. As Larry accepted the award, he had us do a blood-bag toast. NOW it was officially time to watch the film. I’ve seen Habit at least 15 times, so I was less worried about being completely sober and wanted to let myself thoroughly enjoy the experience. Seeing Habit in a room full of horror heads was a bucket list moment. Being able to laugh, gasp, and cry with people who deeply appreciated the film and its filmmaker was beautiful.

Once the film ended, Larry did a Q&A hosted by Jen Wexler. He talked about sex in cinema, his monster-verse, and independent cinema. Unfortunately, my audio from the Q&A was corrupted and I’m totally okay with that! (No I’m not.) But hearing Larry talk about his films with such passion makes it clear as to why he’s one of independent horror’s biggest champions. He also created a new word during the Q&A, “Imaginatary.”

I hope that word sticks.

Only a few people have perfectly captured New York proper in the 80s and 90s. When talking about New York, filmmakers have big names like Frank Henenlotter and Abel Ferrara, but I don’t think Fessenden gets the proper credit he deserves for his unflinching look at 90s New York. There’s a special magic about New York and Fessenden films that malicious beauty in one of the most fascinating ways. Many people born and raised in New York can overlook its grosser aspects; Larry Fessenden accepts the guts and the grime, the trash, and the beauty. There’s something special about watching Habit and then leaving the theater to walk those streets it was filmed on.

Smarter people than I can make a stronger case for why this film is important for horror and independent cinema, but I can tell you how this film makes me feel. Larry busted his ass to save the money he needed to pull off his vision. From conceiving the idea as a short film in college to creating it over a decade later in feature form, Habit is the blueprint for paving your own path. It shows how you can flip subgenre conventions on its head and how passion and creativity trump a million-dollar budget any day.