The latest cult horror movie to be restored and re-released by Fun City, 1982’s transgressively weird “Der Fan” centers on a teen girl’s obsessive fixation on a pop star — a fixation that takes a turn for the cannibalistic. Writer/director Eckhart Schmidt’s classic video nasty was last restored in 2015 by Mondo Macabro, but the disturbing, German New Wave-era film has never before played U.S. theaters.
Per Metrograph’s synopsis, “Teen runaway Simone (Désirée Nosbusch, entrancingly opaque) loves the Neue Deutsche Welle pop singer known only as ‘R’ (Bodo Staiger)… loves him so much, in fact, that she could just about eat him alive. And when she finally meets her idol — only to be callously treated by him as a disposable sex object — well, Simone gets the chance to really become one with her beloved forever. A hard, cool-to-the-touch, and utterly riveting slow-burn psychological thriller that, newly restored for its first-ever U.S. theatrical release, speaks to our age of parasocial obsession, featuring a sinister synth-pop soundtrack by Staiger’s own band, Rheingold, and a last act that’s finger-lickin’ good.”
“Der Fan” was restored in 4K from its original 35mm camera negative by Fun City Editions. The film is presented with its original stereo soundtrack for the first time since its initial German theatrical release in 1982.
Fun City will open “Der Fan” at the Metrograph in Lower Manhattan starting August 28. It plays at the theater as part of a series of films called “That Most Taboo of Red Meats,” which also includes “House,” “In My Skin,” “Jennifer’s Body,” “Raw,” and “Spider Baby.”
Following Metrograph, the film is booked to play in Los Angeles (American Cinematheque: Los Feliz), Madison (Wisconsin Cinematheque), Austin (Austin Film Society), Portland (Hollywood Theatre), Santa Ana (The Frida), San Francisco (Alamo New Mission), and Minneapolis/St. Paul (Trylon), with further engagements forthcoming. The trailer was cut by Chris O’Neill.
