What makes it different from others?

Purely Joyful Movie!

Dreadfully Boring

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Désirée Nosbusch stars as Simone, a teenager obsessed with pop star R (Bodo Steiger). She writes him professing her love and waits obsessively for his reply. When none comes, she travels to Munich to confront him in person. They meet and seem to hit it off, but things do not exactly go as anyone would have planned them. This is a cold, somewhat alienating film that I have to say I really enjoyed. All the performances are subdued and quietly driven, and the film pulses with a synth score by Rheingold that also stands in for R's music. It all leads to an inevitable, but still somewhat surprising brutal end.

"Der Fan" or "The Fan" is a West German 85--minute movie from 1982, so next year it will have its 35th anniversary. The writer and director is Eckhart Schmidt and it's probably his most known work and also one of the most known works for actress Désirée Nosbusch who plays the title character, that easily turned her into one of Luxembourg's most successful actresses ever and all this at such a tender age. I must say I am not familiar with any of the other actors in here though except Blacky Fuchsberger who has a small cameo. If you read a bit about this film, you will see that it was a controversial film back then, not only because of the contents, but also because of the argument ensuing between Nosbusch and Schmidt around the time when the film came out and that had to do with Nosbusch's nude scenes.And with the controversy dying down over the last few decades, very little stays memorable from this movie. I thought Nosbusch gave a good performance, but I also felt that almost all the supporting players were mediocre or bad on most occasions. This also includes male protagonist Bodo Steiger and I am not surprised at all that he has not acted in more films really. The story also has huge problems in my opinion. For example, it was entirely unfitting that Nosbusch's character suddenly starts cutting off body parts from the man. It feels a bit tough already for me to make an argument for her killing the man, but you can somewhat explain it through spur of the moment and affect. There was no indication at all that she was a sociopath or a violent killer earlier and then they let her do stuff like that. Yes she was misguided, but still. And lets be honest, the way he rejects her is not really severe rejection and it's difficult to justify her screaming and her killing in that scene. It was also cringeworthy how they showed it so many times from different angles. Or how did nobody from the crew tell the police who he went away with. I am not sold at all. As a whole, I can only say that by today's standards, I see this film as a blatant case of style over substance that lacks realism entirely and goes for cheap thrills from start to finish instead of delivering a good character study. The bald head at the very end is the perfect example. I cannot recommend the watch. The few topless shots of the (then already) stunning Désirée Nosbusch are not enough to sit through all the mediocre and weak moments. Watch something else instead.

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!

DER FAN is a slow-building but effective film that touches on common themes of obsession and rejection, but in a slightly more clinical and disturbing manner than most films of it's type. The "resolution" is also a bit more bizarre than your average film about unrequited love, but should prove satisfying to fans of more "dark"-themed horror films.Simone is your typical disaffected and alienated teenager who has a delusional obsession with a popular music star, known as "R". Through R's droney and monotonous new-wave style music, Simone believes that the two are "connected" and writes him unreturned love-letters on a daily basis. Simone finally decides to run away from home to pursue her "love", and eventually meets R oustide of a television station. Unlikely as it may seem, R takes a personal interest in Simone and the pair spend the night together. But when R treats Simone as a typical groupie, Simone in not happy about it and retaliates in a most extreme fashion...To be honest, the basic plot of DER FAN is nothing very original, it's how the material is handled and portrayed that makes this film interesting. There is a coldness to the production that is reminiscent of some of Michael Haneke's works and the "shocking" ending is both deranged and satisfying. The mechanical new-wave soundtrack fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the film, and mirrors feeling of Simone's alienation and despair. My only gripes with the film are the ATROCIOUS dubbing of my copy - I would have much preferred a subtitle track. The pacing was also definitely a bit slow until the final act of the film, but I didn't find it to be overly dull. I'm also disappointed that my copy of the film appears to be the shorter, 88 minute version, and there does appear to be a few awkward edits in the sex-scene, and in the finale. I would really like to know what I missed in those two parts. Other than those issues, DER FAN is a very solid and overlooked film that I would recommend to "dark" horror/drama fans that can stand to wait for the pay-off...8.5/10