The Fan – ABC Film Challenge – Horror – J (Jake) – The Fan – Movie Review
Director: Ed Bianchi
Writer: Priscilla Chapman, John Hartwell (Screenplay)
Writer: Bob Randall (Novel)
Cast
- Lauren Bacall (To Have and Have Not)
- James Garner (The Notebook)
- Maureen Stapleton (Reds)
- Hector Elizondo (Pretty Woman)
- Michael Biehn (Aliens)
Plot: Douglas, a record salesman, is an obsessive fan of actress Sally Ross. When his letters are rejected, he strikes out at her and her loved ones.
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Fan starts as we meet record salesman Douglas (Biehn). He is a massive fan of actress Sally Ross (Bacall) who uses her assistant to deal with most fan mail. Douglas starts to get frustrated not to receive personal mails from Sally, as he becomes more distant from his own family and friends.
When Douglas decides to take matters into his own hands, he starts by attacking her secretary Belle (Stapleton). This leads to the police needing to get involved, worried Douglas will go to even more deadly means to meet his favorite star.
Verdict on The Fan
The Fan is a horror thriller following an actress who finds her life in danger when one of the fans becomes too obsessed with her. It sees her ignoring him at first, thinking it is just another fan, but soon things turn deadly.
This is a thriller that shows the dangers being the in spotlight can cause. It dives into the obsessive fan side of the celebrity world, leading to the worst happening. While the dangers have moved onto the next level with the change in technology. This showed us just how dangerous the world of fandom was back in the 1980s. This has a disturbing performance from Michael Biehn that shows just how cold people in this world can become.
Final Thoughts – The Fan shows the dangerously dark side to fandom.