Der Fan (1982)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Eckhart Schmidt

Writer:

Eckhart Schmidt (writer)

Release Date:

4 June 1982 (West Germany)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Er ist ein Star - sie erst 17 - Liebe in Trance ...

Plot:

The hero-worship that Simone has for a pop singer is built to a crescendo until she passes out when...

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Fan | Pop Singer | Sex | Female Nudity

Cast

Désirée Nosbusch	...	Simone
Bodo Steiger	...	'R'
Simone Brahmann	...	Sekretärin
Jonas Vischer	...	Vater
Helga Tölle	...	Mutter
Klaus Münster	...	Briefträger
Ian Moorse	...	Junge
Wilfried Blasberg
Sabine Kueckelmann	...	B
Claudia Schumann	...	Mädchen
Nikolai Hoffmann	...	Manager
Michael Fluehme	...	Promotion-Mann
Oliver Betz	...	Popper
Doro Hilzinger	...	Mädchen
Joachim Fuchsberger

Also Known As:

Trance (UK) (West Germany) (working title)
Blood Groupie (UK) (video title)

Runtime:

92 min | UK:88 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 (f)

Filming Locations:

FSM, Unterföhring, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Barbara Moorse Workshop

Trivia:

In her contract, popular German TV moderator Désirée Nosbusch agreed to shoot the nude scenes together with 'Bodo Staiger'. After stills from those scenes were published during the marketing campaign of the film, she tried to stop the release. After a long trial that caused a scandal in German press, she finally lost and the film was released in the original version by director Eckhart Schmidt. Schmidt and Nosbusch reconciled their struggle years after that and became friends again.

Slow build to a shocking climax!

Der Fan is a practically unknown horror film; but also a very good one and a film that I would call the definition of a 'sleeper'. The film is halfway between a drama and a horror film with drama taking up the first hour before the horror is unleashed in the final third. Eckhart Schmidt's film draws you into the central character with the slow building opening and successfully lulls his audience into a false sense of security before pulling the rug from under us at the end. The result is very effective and ensures that the horror of the story carries a lot of shock value with it. The film focuses on a schoolgirl named Simone. Simone is a quiet girl, and the reason for that is down her obsession with 'R' - a cheesy eighties pop singer. She's written him a letter in which she declares her undying love and constantly watches the post office for a reply; and is constantly disappointed. She can't concentrate on her schooling and decides to hit the road in order to find her love. She eventually meets him in Munich, but doesn't get the treatment she believes she deserves...

The film is German and the version I saw was dubbed poorly into English - and that's really the only bad word I have to say about it. The first hour of the film focuses solely on the main character and her obsession for the pop singer and while I can't say I can relate to it from a personal point of view; the way that things are portrayed makes things interesting. The loneliness of the central character always shines through and even though she's more than just a little bit odd, the director does actually succeed in making us feel bad for her plight. The film is slow for the first hour and not a great deal happens although it really isn't boring and all credit has to go to the film for giving the audience an amazing pay-off towards the end. All the patience invested in the film is surely rewarded when the big twist hits and Eckhart Schmidt delivers a totally bizarre conclusion and brings with it a change of pace that is really difficult to forget. I'm not too surprised that this film isn't often rated more highly as it will undoubtedly struggle to find a target audience; but if you like your horror dark and shocking and have a bit of patience - this little flick is well worth checking out!