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Poster for Der Fan (1982)

Der Fan (1982)

Opens on February 10

Director: Eckhart Schmidt Run Time: 92 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 1982

Starring: Bodo Staiger, Désirée Nosbusch, Helga Tölle, Jonas Vischer, Simone Brahmann

Country: West Germany
Language: German


Fright Club Live at Gateway Film Center

February 10 | Before the screening, meet up with fellow horror movie lovers in The Torpedo Room and then join us at 9PM for the live recording of MaddWolf’s Fright Club podcast hosted by George Wolf and Hope Madden.


About the film:

“If there were a film version of what German New Wave actually feels like when you listen to it, DER FAN is it.”

—Annie Choi for Bleeding Skull

Der Fan (1982) deserves a place alongside Audition (1999) and Possession (1981) as an essential art-horror experience. Simone (the magnetic Désirée Nosbusch) is a teenage runaway who is obsessed with the pop singer known as “R.” Soon, that obsession takes over her life. When “R” uses Simone with machine-like coldness, she plots her revenge with an unholy ceremony that’s equally romantic and horrifying. Fueled by a killer minimalist synth soundtrack from Rheingold and a gorgeous design aesthetic, Der Fan (1982) is a subversive and electric shocker that goes harder than you’d ever expect it to go.

About the filmmaker:

Eckhart Schmidt is a German film director, producer, writer, photographer, and film critic who made his first feature film in the 1960s. He directed the film Der Fan (1982), adapted from his own novel of the same name. He directed many other features in Germany and Italy, plus over 80 entertainment arts documentaries on varying topics. He also founded the punk magazine “S!A!U!” and has written and published novels and poetry.

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