User reviews

"Der Fan" is a bone chilling and thought-provoking film about teenage obsession and the gradual descent into social isolation, despair and slow brooding insanity. Simone is a pretty young girl whose entire universe spins around a pop-singer named "R". She talks to him in her mind, fantasizes about their utopist future together, eagerly awaits letters that never come and completely neglects her school work and social life in favor of dreams about him. Simone eventually takes the initiative abandon everything without notice and hitchhikes to Munich in order to meet him at a concert. She finds her beloved "R" and, for a brief period of time, all her dreams come true as he fancies her, albeit guarding a haughty distance. But, of course, now that she finally found him, Simone isn't prepared to share her lover with the rest of the world anymore … "Der Fan" is an unimaginably slow-paced film and – please – don't immediately start to question it's cult reputation upon noticing absolutely nothing significant happens during what appears to be the entire film. Believe you me; it's all just patient and awkwardly uncomfortable building up towards one of the most shocking and revolting climaxes ever. This was an incredibly controversial release back in its home country Germany, and it's not too hard to see why. Without revealing too much about the infamous denouement, I can safely say this girl Simone single-handedly gives a whole new dimension to the term "obsessive groupie". Désirée Nosbusch gives away a hugely impressive performance as Simone and undeniably the other biggest strong point of the film – apart from the ending of course – is Rheingold's prototypic 80's electro pop music. If you're familiar with the oeuvre the relatively known 80's band Kraftwork ("The Model", "Autobahn", "Radioactivity"), you know pretty much what to expect. "Der Fan" isn't a movie for all tastes but certainly a curious collector's item for the more avid and open-minded cult fanatic to seek out.

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.

Doleful, onerous portrait of an obsessed fanatic which is entirely encompassing despite its glacial pace. A mildly dissociative schoolgirl grows increasingly entranced by a popular music artist(a very early '80s Kraftwerk-style fellow), and sets forth with determination to become his lover. Through the course of her efforts, she eventually finds herself in his bed...but when she is handed her wham-bam-thank-you papers, her moment of happiness turns to shock and dismay. Things are far from finalized, however, as the closing moments of this film illustrate in a rattling climax which brilliantly rectifies the brooding monotone of its creeping buildup.

A diagnostic rumination on fanaticism which is stylistically rather dated, yet nonetheless quite penetrating and recommendable.

6.5/10.

I will admit that this movie does drag on some bit but its well worth it for the last 20 minutes.

Its pretty much the same as Autopsy 1999 ending.. but pretty well done and for 1982 its a big surprise.

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!

(1982) Der Fan (In German with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR

Written and directed by Eckhart Schmidt that has a young music fan, Simone (Désirée Nosbusch) of the new music sensation, R (Bodo Staiger). Writes him fan letters and listens to him daily, sometimes to the limits of not eating and skipping classes. And by the time R does notices her and wanted a little fling. R then tells her that sleeping with her was all he wanted with her with horrifying results.

It helps the movie if the actress in question is young and attractive despite no plot to speak about, it is reminiscent to other obsessive-like movies such as "Play Misty For Me", "Fatal Attraction" and "Misery" to a name a few with the difference is that the direction is way more extreme.

I knew the music to this film for many years before I finally saw the film itself. I had discovered the hypnotic soundtrack by Rheingold on a second-hand LP and have had it on heavy rotation for many years. It's one of the best albums I know.

The music is certainly one of boons which helped to put this movie into another class and make it a classic. Hypnotically slowly, it follows the development of a teenybopping waif's obsession with a pop star spiraling out of control. It's one of those movies which you kind of have to see in a cinema because on TV you'd zap away after 10 minutes. But it richly rewards your for its slower moments.

Apparently there was a lot of controversy around lead actress Désirée Nosbusch's nudity scenes, which are admittedly surprisingly crass. But they are not exploitative and absolutely gel in with the movie. Kind of ironic that immediately after this scene there is one of extreme violence which went practically unnoticed by the public. A nice society we're living in.

It's very respectable that the director fought to keep these scenes in, as they are essential to the escalation of the story. They are actually a good example of how those scenes should be done realistically but without becoming pornographic or voyeuristic. It's a big fat shame that this controversy tainted the reception and popularity of this great movie.

And by the way, other than is often stated, the affair between star and fan doesn't end with the star "dropping" her after a night of carnality. It's not a case of "find'um, furp'um and flee". R. merely returns to his reality whereas Simone stays locked in her fantasy world.

Some tidbits about this movie: R. is actually played by the singer of the band Rheingold, Bodo Staiger, which furnished the soundtrack. The actress playing the fan, Désirée Nosbusch, was at the time already a popular "VJane" (i. e. hostess of a music show like the one that is shown in the movie). And the host of the TV show which Simone watches with her parents at the beginning of the movie is played by Joachim "Blacky" Fuchsberger, who in real life was the most popular TV host in Germany at the time.

Der Fan (1982) is a slow-burn psychological thriller that delves into the disturbing nature of obsession. The film follows a teenage fan whose fixation on a pop star gradually turns into something far more sinister. The off-screen narration from the protagonist gives us an eerie insight into a deeply disturbed mind, making the audience feel like silent witnesses to her descent.

For its time, Der Fan was an incredibly bold and provocative film, tackling themes of celebrity worship and psychological instability in a way that still resonates. The final 20 minutes take a shocking and macabre turn, cementing the film's reputation as a cult classic. The soundtrack, composed by Rheingold, is a standout-its electronic beats evoke the hypnotic sound of Kraftwerk, adding to the film's eerie atmosphere.

However, the film's slow pacing might not sit well with modern audiences. Some scenes drag on longer than necessary, making it feel somewhat dated. Still, its psychological depth and haunting final letter to "R" make Der Fan an unforgettable experience for fans of unsettling cinema.

A deranged teenage girl played by Desiree Nosbusch (who like many deranged females in movies is improbably hot) is obsessed with a bad German rock star named "R". She is alienated from her parents and seemingly has no friends, so she spends all her free time listening to "R"'s music and following his career. She attends a TV show he is taping at a nearby town. They meet and he decides that she is good for a quick shag. Unfortunately, she wants more from him--MUCH more--and she ends up doing something truly shocking.

This is a downbeat and pretty disturbing movie--it's not, however, especially believable. An incident kind of like this did actually happen in Germany recently (which was made all the more disturbing by the fact that the victim was apparently completely willing). But that bizarre case involved a middle-aged man--it's a little harder to believe a pretty teenage girl could be this warped (It's also kind of an ironic conceit that the stalkers in movies are often the kind of people--i.e. young, attractive, female--that in real life are far more like to be the stalk-ees). Nosbusch does give a pretty convincing performance, and this helps greatly. This first-time German actress would go on to a short career in cinema, including English-language films like "Good Morning, Babylon" (under the name Desiree Becker). She became more famous perhaps though as a singer and a presenter of the Eurovision contest (where she no doubt introduced musical acts even worse than that of the fictional "R").

This was a good movie, but unfortunately I got my copy via Britain where it was subject to some idiotic (even by their standards) censorship. To wit, Nosbusch's impressive butt and boobs are literally on display for about ten minutes here, but the Brit censors decided a brief full-frontal scene was apparently just too harmful to society. This cut reputedly doesn't make that much of a difference though (which is exactly why it is so STUPID). Anyway, I would recommend this, but if you have a choice try to get a version WITHOUT the checkered triangle with an 18 on it (the international symbol of the idiocy of the BBFC). In any case, much like "R" does with his obsessive young fan, this one will definitely stay with you.

First, lets get the fact that the electro soundtrack here is one of the best scores ever. Like EVER! And since this centers on a pop star it's pretty important. There's a repetitive style that works well with the leads repetitive obsession with her letters.

The story and performances are splendid and the ending works just fine for me. It's a story about depression and identity -- deserves a Gen Z following.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of The Fan; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 0.25 Direction: 0.75 Pace: 0.75 Acting: 0.75 Enjoyment: 0.50

TOTAL: 3.00 out of 10.00

Okay, so I am flabbergasted. At the time of writing this review, The Fan has a 6.6 IMDb rating when much better films are scoring much lower. WOW!

The story is pretty basic and offers very little insight into the obsessed girl's fixation with the Electronic Music star called R. She keeps writing to him but never receives a reply. She decides to give R a deadline to respond; if he hasn't answered in seven days, she'll take action. I was itching with boredom to turn off the telly by the time day seven came around. All the writer fills the time with is mopy selfishness. If anybody needed a smack, Simone is she. I was hoping that she'd go nuts on the eighth day. Alas, the lass merely runs away from home, heading out to find R. So, we'll get some exciting road trip scenes? Nope, even though a sleazy fat man tries his luck, nowt happens. And, I mean nowt. There's no fight, no real struggle, and the most engaging segment of this scene is the bloke's dog trying to get into the back of the car - evidently, he didn't want to take care of business in the pouring rain; more serious still, the dog possesses more personality than anyone in the story. Most characters are two-dimensional, though a lot possess less than that. I couldn't believe in or relate to them, and it killed The Fan for me. I needed insight into Simone to understand her final actions towards R. That said, the ending is quite chilling if you read between the lines of Simone's narrated diary entry - I'd the impression the writer had scribbled this part first and then added the boring nonsense beforehand to reach his end goal.

At least the direction is slightly better, but not much - which isn't surprising as he penned this wearisome tale. Most of the filmmaking is in the Point and Shoot style, though he does offer up some agreeable compositions. However, due to the dreary story, it required more verve to engage the viewers. Most times, it only adds to the movie's dullness. But the section I hated most was the TV Music Video. It is terrible. But I do have to give some respect to the R's end sequence. Look carefully, and you'll realise no mannequins were harmed; it's all about camera positioning. The principal element in creating the picture's boredom is the tempo. It's too slow, and the director fails to utilise it fully to build the necessary atmosphere.

Then we arrive at the cast. Oh God, the performers are so wooden and unexpressive it was like watching a forest, though exceedingly less intriguing. Their indifference and deadpan delivery hinder the movie even further.

I cannot recommend The Fan to anyone. It was an interesting premise but one hell of a lifeless implementation. What this film needed was life. Life in its characters, life in the filmmaking, and life in the performances.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chillers list to see where I ranked The Fan.

Take Care & Stay Well.

The deeply affecting performance by Desiree Nosbusch is the core of what first seems to be a pretty standard tale of youthful obsession. Teenager Simone (Nosbusch) fantasizes about getting together with "R" (Bodo Staiger), the pop singer whom she idolizes. She chucks it all to go on a journey to Munich to meet up with him. To her great joy, he is very nice to her at first. BUT, when he plans on abandoning her after getting what he wants from her, the already disturbed Simone snaps, and spends a great deal of time devising a way for him to always be with her.

We've all seen stories about unhinged admirers of entertainers who get homicidal when faced with a harsh dose of reality. But whatever "Der Fan" lacks in original premise, it is able to compensate with its sensitive treatment of the memorable title character. It's easy to sympathize with Simone until that final third when she utilizes her alone time with "R" to show just how far she can go. It's a doozy of a third act, largely because writer / director Eckhart Schmidt dares to take his time: he makes things very violent (but not overtly gory) and atmospheric, with the electronic score by Rheingold serving as the perfect accompaniment. A true exploitation-thriller, this features extensive sex and nudity, and yet titillation is not all that Schmidt has on his mind. He gets subtle, nuanced performances out of his main cast, and his film definitely works its way under the viewers' skin.

Eight out of 10.

Der Fan (1982)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Teenager Simone (Desiree Nosbusch) fantasizes about having a relationship with her favorite pop singer R (Bodo Steiger). She finally by chance ends up meeting him but their relationship takes a dangerous turn.

I guess the less said about the plot of DER FAN the better it will be for those who haven't seen it. This now cult item was released to a lot of controversy and it remains somewhat shocking today and especially the twist that happens so it's best that you don't know this big spoiler so I'm certainly not going to give it away here. Is the film worthy of all the hype and controversy? I would personally say no as I think there are much better films out there that deals with someone losing their mind but there's no question that there's enough here to recommend it.

I think one of the strongest things going for the film is the wonderful music score by Rheingold who manages to build a lot of dark atmosphere. I thought the score perfectly brought out the mind set of this teenage girl and I loved how it got deeper and darker as her mind began to slip. There's also some nice cinematography and some good editing that helps the film along. Director Eckhart Schmidt does a very nice job at slowly building up the slipping mind of this character. At 93- minutes the film actually feels much longer due to the slow style but for the most part I thought the director did good in making sure that it never got too boring.

The performance of Nosbusch is another reason to check the film out. The actress was probably just 16 or 17-years-old when she made this film so there are going to be some who object to the full nudity that she has throughout the final portion of the film. I think attacking the film for this would be rather narrow-minded even though the actress did stir up controversy when she tried to have the film pulled on its original release, although I wonder how much of this was just hype to sell the picture. Either way, she certainly delivers a convincing performance of someone slowly losing their mind. I thought she perfectly captured the naive nature of this character and when she finally goes off the deep end, you can believe what you're seeing.

i would also say that the biggest problem is that while the actress pulls off the mental state of the character, the direction really doesn't pull the psychological drama out of everything like he should have. This film falls well short of the psychological horrors of something like TAXI DRIVER. THE FAN certainly has plenty of flaws including a not-so-original story but at the end of the day the performances and the overall tone makes it worth watching.

The Fan will give you a very chilling experience. It starts like a very childish teenage romance drama. As the time passes, it becomes so intense and horrible. I like the movie, as it gives a really different feeling.

One of the better films in the stalker/obsessed fan genre.

The main actress is very convincing and you can feel her turmoil as she grows more obsessive. The fact that the actress conveys this mostly with her eyes, face and body language without resorting to many words is even more impressive. It fits the mood of the film perfectly.

Another big plus is the music that is at once creepy and driving and the actor playing the rock star is also very convincing.

Very good camera work too.

Unfortunately I saw this film in a theater with idiotic 20 year old that giggled through the whole film but even they couldn't diminish the power of this film.

Simone is so obsessed with her favourite pop star (the mysteriously named 'R') that she can't eat or concentrate in school anymore. She waits for his reply to the letter she wrote, but nothing arrives. She goes to the TV studio where he is due to appear on a music programme, he sees her, likes what he sees and invites her inside. To tell you anything more would be to completely ruin this gem of a movie.

Let's just say that the expression 'That escalated quickly' is perfect for this film. The final act is so messed up that I'm surprised this movie never appeared on my radar until about two weeks ago.

The whole movie is fantastic- the slow burn, almost dream-like state of her fan worship and then the shocking denouement of what happens when her and R actually meet and become acquainted. This is a very worthy entry into the crazed fan genre (think The King of Comedy, The Fan et al) and is also a brilliant precursor for the 'crazy girl' genre.

It also gives us an insight into early 80's German life and how certain practices during World War 2 have made an indelible mark on Simone.

There's also an amazing minimalist soundtrack of drum machines and synths. Think of a stripped-down version of Kraftwerk, and you're on the right lines.

I loved this movie.