The Fan

Pretty good, character-driven thriller based upon the novel by Bob Randall.

Aging star of film and stage becomes the unhealthy obsession of a young fan, whose love for her will soon turn sinister!

Solidly made tale of deadly obsession is a steady paced but ultimately intense thriller. It all builds to a great climax. The cast is the true highlight of this film though. Lauren Bacall is as great an actress as ever here in a role where she actually does play an actress. James Garner adds his talents has Bacall's ex-husband and Maureen Stapleton as Bacall's assistant. The most enjoyable performance however is that of a young Michael Biehen, who is not only a talented actor but probably the best-looking psycho to ever grace a movie screen. Pino Donaggio lends a bold musical score, while Bacall sings a few musical numbers.

The Fan has more class and depth than an ordinary slasher film, which this film really should not be labeled as. The Fan is actually a well-crafted thriller with a great cast to boot. Genre fans should enjoy it.

*** out of ****

I thought this film was much better than the critics made it out to be at the time. I found it to be an interesting character study of an obsessed fan, played by Michael Biehn. He was a new actor at the time and a total unknown, which helped in this role. He went to star in "The Terminator" and has had a decent career. The other co-star....well, you might have heard of her: Lauren Bacall.

I read a lot of criticism of Bacall for this role, and think it is totally unjustified. She was just fine, thank you, playing a believable character: a veteran actress being talked by some deranged killer.

With Maureen Stapleton, James Garner, Hector Elizondo, some great cinematography with wonderful close-up shots and a good score, what's not to like? It was a good thriller and deserves better ratings.

Some thrillers, even though less than perfect, are worth seeing at least once. This adaptation of the Randal novel, made up of written correspondence between characters, is not perfect but it's worth a watch. The makers faced a difficult situation when it came to the film's ending, as it was wrapping up production when NYC resident (and Lauren Bacall's neighbor) John Lennon was slain by a psychotic fan. I give them credit for what they did, even if it didn't best serve the movie. They deserved a better script, but the talented leads are very natural together. They make it believable and it's not overtly, senselessly gory in the Michael Myers/Jason/Freddy tradition. The young Michael Biehn makes a convincing and pathetic psycho. To the naysayers who like to take potshots at Lauren Bacall's casting, remember that for decades, Broadway has featured many big acting names-not known for their singing talents-in successful shows. Ms Bacall, for example. I saw her in 'Woman of the Year' and she earned her Tony. So in the film, Sally Ross' foray into her first musical really isn't that hard to buy. (Oh, and the snobs out there can stop the sniping about 'Hearts, Not Diamonds' too. It's a sweet, intimate little number.) The Fan' isn't at the top of the thriller heap, but there are enough pluses to make it worth a watch.

The opening credit indicates that this is a Robert Stigwood production. So from then on, you have been warned. What is a guy known for The Bee Gees and the Grease movies doing getting involved in a slasher film? Well, it isn't all bad. The casting is very good on all fronts. Lauren Bacall stars as an aging actress trying her hand at Broadway late in her career. Michael Biehn, an upcoming talent who would make his mark mostly in James Cameron action movies, plays Douglas Breen who is an odd young man stalking her. James Garner offers fine support as Bacall's supportive ex husband. Maureen Stapleton is on hand as the put-upon secretary who first tries to warn her boss about this weirdo sending her letters. She is the first victim as Biehn begins to lash out violently after his advances are ignored. Several others also face his wrath before the finale.

The fine cast, good cinematography, and Pino Donaggio score do a decent job of window dressing this routine plot. They are just enough to make this watchable. The script cannot support the premise as the plot moves along, however. First of all, once the secretary is brutally slashed in a subway attack, Biehn stops using his last name and address on the letters he writes Bacall. And conveniently all his others with that in formation have been thrown out. Sure. There is a particularly brutal attack on Bacall's young new boyfriend in a YMCA swimming pool where he is basically gutted by Biehn in plain sight of several witnesses. No way he would have gotten out of there without being caught. No way. Several other scenes ring false as Biehn clearly stands out in the crowd while stalking Bacall. And just how exactly did he get into her secured building to kill the maid and trash the place??? Never explained. They didn't even try.

But still, it keeps you watching. The performances are better than the material deserves. Bacall plays her character honestly, and you can see the talent she still has in many phases. She was aging here, but gracefully and honestly. It didn't look like she'd had much surgery back then, and Botox may have not even been invented. If nothing else is on, you will probably find yourself watching this all the way through. 6 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

Lauren Bacall, playing a star very much like Lauren Bacall, has one hugely obsessed fan out there in Michael Biehn. He'll do just about anything to gratify his obsession to be near here and that includes killing just about everyone else he views as a threat.

Even with the presence of a couple of really huge movie legends like Lauren Bacall and James Garner playing her ex-husband and better friend, the film is about The Fan. Michael Biehn is a truly terrifying human being and all the more so because at first glance he looks so incredibly normal and even hunky. Not someone you think would be obsessing over a middle-aged movie queen.

Bacall is really playing herself her. Her Sally Ross just like Lauren in that decade had transplanted herself from Hollywood to Broadway and was scoring great success. The scenes showing the rehearsal for her Broadway show is something I can easily imagine her doing when she was preparing for her role in Company. Bacall is a most famous tenant of that famous building the Dakota on Central Park West and with the angles of the shot we can't tell if it was in fact the Dakota, but it was on the park as there are shots of Biehn watching it from across the street.

The whole film was done on location in New York and one brief scene in the gay bar where Biehn picks up a victim to kill in order to make the police and Bacall believe he committed suicide was the legendary and notorious Haymarket. Back in the days before the AIDS plague hit, it was a legendary spot world wide for rent boys. It closed in the early Eighties as did many such establishments. I'd be curious to know how they got permission to shoot there. Still folks from the New York gay scene will recognize it.

Maureen Stapleton does a nice job as Bacall's secretary who answers her fan letters and who becomes Biehn's first victim as in his twisted mind she's keeping him from his obsession.

When all's said and done The Fan is a slasher flick, but it's a slasher flick with style.