Behold, the first trailer for the upcoming film, The Demonatrix! Starring Hannah Fierman (VHS/Siren) and Aurelio Voltaire (The Velocipastor/ Nosferatu), with Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), Larry Fessenden (Killers of the Flower Moon/ Jacob’s Wife), Nivek Ogre (Repo- The Genetic Opera) and Jeff Ferrell (Ghostlight). Logline: A priest comes to the aid of his good friend and neighbor, a dominatrix when she accidentally summons an incubus demon. Written and directed by Aurelio Voltaire and Jeff Ferrell. With make up effects by Norman Cabrera (Hellboy/ Ghostbusters: Afterlife/ Star Trek Beyond).

Be sure to check out GEP pal Motell Foster twice before the
Thanksgiving holiday in 2 different works:

Alonso Ruizpalacios’s LA COCINA unspools today & tomorrow at Angelika Village East. Starring Raúl Briones, Rooney Mara, Anna Diaz, Oded Fehr and Motell Foster. Get your tix!

Amy Berryman’s WALDEN at the Tony Kiser Theater in NYC. Catch the performance before it’s gone! On stage until Nov 25. Get your tix.

Glass Eye knows Foster well, lending his talents in Jack Fessenden’s FOXHOLE
and Larry Fessenden’s BLACKOUT. Now streaming and available on Blu-Ray.

Posted 10/15/24
From the intro:

Larry Fessenden is a producer, director, and the founder of Glass Eye Pix. Above all, he is a lover of cinema and not afraid to get involved in the technical process and do the work. In fact, he prefers it. A performer in his own right, when Larry isn’t making films, he’s starring in them. In many ways, Larry is a local legend and icon of the horror genre. His career spans over 40+ years and 20+ films throughout which he has earned a spirit award and acknowledgment from the Criterion Collection. His production company Glass Eye Pix, has not only been a film school of sorts for successful directors like Ti West, he’s even invested in their earlier work. Larry is a fascinating case study of what it takes to make your film when you’re up against all the odds. His process is his and he doesn’t claim to have the right one either but he’ll fight you tooth and nail for it. Literally.

Thanks to the folks at Wrap Drinks for having me on— LF

by Sharai Bohannon for Dread Central

On Sunday, October 20, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival honored Larry Fessenden with the Leviathan Award. The ceremony took place before a screening of his 1997 film Habit and a post-show Q&A. The award is BHFF’s only tribute award, created in 2023 to honor the luminaries of horror for their contributions to the genre. The event was moderated by filmmaker Jennifer Wexler. Wexler previously worked at Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix and fell into an effortless rapport with the man of the hour.

Upon receiving his award, Fessenden explained what it meant to be recognized by the festival. He said, “It is a struggle making these movies. My films are not quite horror, and they are not quite fancy indie movies. They have never been to fancy festivals. So what matters is you guys…the audience, and the fans. It means a great deal to be recognized by the Brooklyn Horror Festival. It is really meaningful to me.” 

He joked, “I am not really getting emotional, but in concept, I am very touched by this.”

Always one to share the spotlight, Larry Fessenden told the packed theater that he accepted the award on behalf of all the great people he has worked with over the years. He explained, “The word mentorship is thrown around a lot, but what really happens is I find people with great passion, with a vision of what horror can be.” 

Fessenden cited Wexler’s seven films made at his company. He then continued, “I accept [this] for all of the people who have come through our pipeline. We are there to celebrate individual voices in the arts. The individuality to go up against the sort of corporate blandness…and get everyone out the door so they can go make some money.” Fessenden and Wexler were then handed Blood Bags, the specialty drink Nitehawk Cinema conjured up for the event, before leaving the audience to watch Habit on the big screen.

Habit sees Fessenden step up as writer-director-star, which is not uncommon in his work. In the film, he plays a down-on-his-luck guy named Sam who just lost his dad and is still navigating a recent breakup. As he self-medicates at a party, he meets a woman named Anna (Meredith Snaider), and sparks begin to fly. However, it soon becomes clear that Anna wants Sam’s body in more ways than he bargained. This sets Sam spiraling even further as he realizes love bites, and that he might be hooking up with a vampire. 

This indie movie set in 1995 New York has all the markings of a Larry Fessenden project. It’s a no-frills film that feels personal and is unafraid to explore sexuality and violence. To further set it apart from most movies, it denies the audience the traditional boring happy ending. Habit also has a monster that is a person first and foremost, which is another signature of the filmmaker’s work. Instead of going for over-the-top creatures, Fessenden is known for using monstrous traits to investigate the human condition. 

Jennifer Wexler brought clips of the 1984 short Habit to compare with the feature-length version, allowing the audience to see how they differed. She used the short version as a jumping-off point to ask Larry about his knack for using monsters to explore real-world issues. He acknowledged that the short film was not great, but it was the seed he needed for what has become his personal mission. Fessenden explained, “It was the beginning of my instance that you can make monster movies, in the every day, in a personal way about personal problems. I have been on that mission ever since.” He elaborated, “My films are philosophical horror movies dealing with some of the old questions through a modern lens.” 

Because Wexler has known Fessenden for years, she knew how to get the good stories out of the beloved horror icon. Between the two of them laughing like kids who snuck into the adult table at a holiday meal, he told the packed theater scandalous stories. For example, Larry shared that they saved filming the scene where he dangled from a window for the last day. Just in case it was the last thing he ever did. 

He also joked, “I really want to stress, I never wanted to exploit anyone. So, we did not pay anyone one single penny because I never wanted them to feel they were being underpaid.” However, when he won an award that gifted him $10,000, he gave it to the crew that made Habit possible.

Wexler also asked Fessenden how advertising Habit landed him and a friend in jail. This is when Larry Fessenden told possibly the funniest story of the evening. He began, ”We’re postering, as you do, on the street, and the cops come up. It was illegal to do that. So, they grabbed us and said, ‘Is there anything you want to get rid of before we bring you into the station?’, and I’m like, ‘What the fuck is he talking about? Oh shit, the reefer in my pocket.’”

Fessenden continued, “We were already handcuffed, but they kind of [knew]. So, we are driving around, and they say, ‘So…we have an idea for a Sundance movie.’” When the laughter died down he continued, “They threw us in jail, and at the time, I had Habittrading cards, which was my way of promoting the picture. I gave them to all the inmates, as we were all in the cell together. I even got the cops to do a selfie.”

As a fan of Larry Fessenden’s movies and video games, I love hearing him talk about his work at festivals. This time was extra special because I finally crossed Habit off my watchlist. He’s worked in the genre since 1979, so many millennials are playing catch-up with his back catalog. I know I’m not the only one who was geeked to see it for the first time with Fessenden in the building to talk about the process of making the film. Because Fessenden has never been afraid to lay bare his personal feelings in his art, the film holds up. It is also still remarkably timely and relatable all these decades later. I highly recommend you catch Habit, which is currently free to stream on Sling TV and is available to AMC+ subscribers.

I am still riding the high from this evening with Jennifer Wexler and Larry Fessenden. However, you can catch me at @misssharai if you watched Habit for the first time this year and have also been changed for good.

Read at DreadCentral.com

Fessenden and Shudder’s Sam Zimmerman with Tony Todd
on the occasion of TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE LIVE in Montreal
JULY 27 2015

HIDDEN RECORDS

A troubled teen is haunted by the memory of his musician father and the vinyl record that speaks from beyond the grave.

Cast: Kevin Cline, Tony Todd, Susan Corbett, Alexandre Lazarre, Esinam Beckley.

Crew: Doug Buck (Writer and Director), Silvano Mercado (Music), Tom Mennier (Piano), Philippe Battikha (Trumpet), Chris Skotchdopole (Live Foley), Tessa Price (Live Foley), Glenn McQuaid (Live Sound Design), Graham Reznick (Live Ambience), Lee Nussbaum (Live Mix and Tech).

BARRICADE

A couple honeymooning in rural Pennsylvania is visited by two desperate men fleeing legions of tiny creatures they’ve unleashed from underground.

Cast: Roxanne Benjamin, Jeremy Gardner, Tony Todd, Samuel Zimmerman.

Crew: Larry Fessenden (Writer, Director, Live Foley),  Just Desserts (Music), Chris Skotchdopole (Live Foley), Tessa Price (Live Foley), Glenn McQuaid (Live Sound Design), Graham Reznick (Live Ambience), Lee Nussbaum (Live Mix and Tech).

NOW STREAMING
Available on Blu-ray through Vinegar Syndrome

In case you thought things have taken a turn for the worse,
there’s a whole lot of dreadful that could still lie ahead.

Fessenden and Ilya Chaiken with Ruth Gordon and Hall Ashby
at a screening of LIBERTY KID at the Director’s Guild Theater, NYC

FAMILY PORTRAITS: A TRILOGY OF AMERICA & THE ACCIDENT – 35MM + Q&A

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR: Douglas Buck
CAST: Sally Conway, Larry Fessenden, Beth Glover
Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America (2003, 103MIN) From acclaimed director Douglas Buck comes an unflinching, disturbingly beautiful look at the underbelly of American family. Three separate narratives (including the shocking film festival favorite “Cutting Moments” as well as “Home” and “Prologue”) combine to create a unique trilogy of life today that will leave you devastated… and begging for more.

The Accident (2011, 11MIN) a mother and young daughter drive along a mountain road and come upon a fatal collision between a motorcyclist and a deer.

Q&A with Douglas Buck following screening.

SISTERS – 35MM + Q&A

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR: Douglas Buck
CAST: Chloë Sevigny, Stephen Rea, Lou Doillon
A reporter witnesses a brutal murder and becomes entangled in a mystery involving a pair of conjoined twins who were separated at birth, one of them forced to live under the eye of a watchful, controlling psychiatrist.

CONTEMPLATING THE MYRIAD DISCONNECTS THAT HAVE LED MODERN SOCIETY ASTRAY

An attempt to reset the national conversation through
the defiant naïveté Fessenden employs in his horror movies;
For if we shy away from idealism, we have no mechanism to make change.

Whoever wins this election, we cannot respond if we don’t have principals
with which to find common cause or build resistance.