Not sure exactly when I became aware of Fessenden’s work, but it was probably when my friend Aaron Christensen told me about his 1995 film Habit, which is a modern-day vampire tale. Fessenden wrote, directed, edited, and even stars in as the main character. It was a feature length film based on a previous short film he made back in 1982. It’s pretty tough to make modern-day vampire film work because it has been done so many times, but Habit does it perfectly.
From that point on, I was following his career, watching anything he directed. But like Roger Corman, there were a ton of young filmmakers coming out of Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix, such as Ti West and Jim Mickle, who have created some incredible features on their own. Every time I’ve seen an interview with Fessenden, he just seemed so down-to-earth, with no pretentions, but just has this overwhelming passion to make film. When he’s not directing or producing, he’s always popping up with little cameos in a ton of different films, from the independent ones to even big-budgeted ones.
But I’ve never had the chance to actually meet this legend. Until yesterday.
The Music Box Theatre in Chicago was having a special screening of Crumb Catcher (2023), which is playing at the theater all week long. But last night, producers Fessenden and Chadd Harbold, along with director Chris Skotchdopole and actor Rigo Garay were going to be there for a Q&A after the screening. Didn’t matter what film was playing, I was going. Joining in on the experience was, of course, Aaron, as well as our friend and local film critic extraordinaire, Cati Glidewell (The Blonde in Front).
Crumb Catcher is a film where it starts off bad for a young couple on their wedding day, and just goes downhill from there. Garay does a great job of a young man who is filled with self-doubt, and just trying to hold his shit together. But when psychotic John (John Speredakos) shows up with his crazy invention ideas, it gets even worse!
But meeting Mr. Fessenden was exactly what I thought it would be. Such a cool guy, extremely friendly, and great to chat with. We also got to spend some time chatting about horror movies with star Rigo Garay, who definitely isn’t a slouch when it comes to the genre, immediately throwing out Joe D’Amato’s name right at the gate! Rigo’s girlfriend, Jessalyn Abbott, as there as well, who also works with Glass Eye Pix!
So, as always, thanks again to the Music Box Theatre for making this event happen, giving these younger filmmakers a chance to screen their movie and come out to talk with the audiences. For info on Crumb Catcher screenings at the Music Box, just click HERE.
