Director: Ed Bianchi Starring: Lauren Bacall, James Garner, Maureen Stapleton, Hector Elizondo, Michael Biehn Certificate: 18 (UK), X (USA)
"The final act is murder."
Plot
A young, lonely man named Douglas Breen writes obsessive letters to the object of his affections: actress Sally Ross. Douglas becomes increasingly erratic and will do anything to reach Sally even if it means killing.
SPOILERS AHEAD...
Get those jazz hands where everyone can see them and prepare to shimmy as you've never shimmied before because it's time for what is perhaps the only musical slasher movie Hollywood ever made: The Fan.
This movie's back story is arguably more fascinating than the movie itself and I may dedicate an entire blog post to it one of these days. What is most interesting to note for now, is that the movie the actors signed on for is very different to what ended up being made, resulting in some bitterness from many involved for years to come.
Set in the kind of grimy, dirty early 1980s New York I was captivated with growing up, The Fan tells the story of Douglas Breen (Biehn) who regularly writes letters to his favourite actress Sally Ross (Bacall). Unfortunately for Douglas, his letters are intercepted by Sally's secretary Belle Goldman (Stapleton), who Douglas starts to blame when the replies he receives are not to his liking.
Sally meanwhile is busy celebrating her 49th birthday (49? Sure honey), rehearsing for what appears to be the worst Broadway musical show ever and pining for her ex Jake Berman (Garner), who has moved on to a younger woman. Jake sporadically appears in the film a couple of times and then disappears again without explanation which, to be honest, bothers no-one because his scenes are incredibly dull and slightly pointless.
Poor Douglas is obviously a confused man. He tells Sally in one letter that he has "all the necessary equipment" to make Sally "very happy". Trust me men, if you ever call your penis "equipment", that is not going to go down well and when Belle tells Douglas in no uncertain terms to stop writing gross letters, he decides it's time to take things further.
First, he attempts to hand-deliver a letter to the dance studio where Sally is rehearsing. Griffin Dunne, who for reasons unknown is basically an extra in this movie, hands the letter once again over to Belle. Douglas then decides to buy a pathetic looking razor blade and take his frustrations out on those who are denying him from reaching his goal of getting to Sally.
Later that day, following Belle down to the subway, a wet faced Douglas (why is he always so wet in this movie?) slashes Belle across the face. Don't worry though, she doesn't die and appears to have had some flawless reconstructive surgery by the end of the movie. Douglas then continues his non-murderous spree by attacking one of the show's dancers in a YMCA swimming pool. What we don't see is how he manages to get out of the pool and walk away without anyone bothering to ask him how he was a) able to keep a razor blade in his boxers safely and b) why he just slashed the poor guy. Policing in 80s New York was sub-par!
Following these incidents, Sally realises this man isn't simply an innocent fan; that's pretty obvious when he starts writing letters that begin "Dearest Bitch, See how accessible you are? How would you like to be fucked with a meat cleaver?" Sally goes into hiding whilst the police led by the consistently brilliant Hector Elizondo, attempt to locate Douglas. Our Douglas is always one step ahead however as he pops to the local gay bar and finds a doppelganger to murder, set fire to and leave with a suicide note, that's not before receiving a quick blow job from his victim obviously...
With Sally and the police convinced that Douglas has killed himself, the musical finally reaches opening night and oh man are we treated to some incredible musical numbers. If you thought Lauren Bacall couldn't sing, prepare to be proved... right. She's fucking awful! She pretty much sing-talks her way through several songs with the voice of a 100 a day smoker whilst we as the audience try and establish what this musical is actually about. Something to do not getting any love in Paris but then getting some hot love but then not getting love again because she's too busy getting diamonds, oh god I don't know, just make it stop. Some of the crowd reaction shots are hilarious here, particularly from the main actors who look genuinely a little bit disgusted, is anyone enjoying this musical? It certainly doesn't look like it!
The musical finally finishes after what seems like 2 hours and Sally peculiarly finds herself alone backstage. Were the cast and crew so concerned that she may sing again that they all rushed to leave?! Douglas unbeknownst to Sally had earlier joined the audience and finds his way backstage with the two finally coming face to face.
We're treated to a tense confrontation that involves Douglas cracking a whip several times (you can tell it's not his first time) and venting his frustrations at Sally's lack of interest in him. However, when he finally has a chance to kill her, he breaks down and admits all he ever wanted was her love. Sally takes her opportunity and slashes Douglas across the throat with his blade, immediately killing him.
The movie ends abruptly here with a dead Douglas now seated in one of the auditorium seats. I would have loved to have seen the next scene where Sally has to explain to the police how and why she decided to drag a dead Douglas and comfortably pop him in a chair but sadly it was not to be.
Performance wise, Lauren Bacall acts in this movie like she's making a classy 1940s film-noir rather than a dirty 80s slasher movie and it kind of works for the character she's portraying. Maureen Stapleton is brilliant as the pissed-off secretary trying to convince Sally that the threat is real; I get the feeling some of the frustration she's venting is for real. As for James Garner? Meh, who cares? His character is absolutely pointless, which leaves us with Michael Biehn. I may be biased, but he is by far and away the best thing here. He doesn't get to interact much with other characters and has to rely on reacting to the behaviour of others but his scenes hold your attention way more than anything else going on. It's hard to believe he was only three years away from The Terminator as he still looks like a baby rather than the tough soldier of Kyle Reese but again, that's testament to his acting ability. I've read a few negative comments in Michael's interviews about this movie and while I agree The Fan isn't perfect, I do genuinely believe it's one of his best performances.
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier, a lot was going on behind the scenes with The Fan and several reshoots took place to try and capitalise on the slasher craze that was emerging at the time. The result is a confused movie that doesn't know if it wants to be taken seriously or not but is strangely rewatchable and has in recent years gained a cult following. It's nicely shot and has some imaginative cinematography, the direction is well done and there are some nice touches, for example, at the beginning of the movie when we intercut between Douglas and Sally's vastly different lives but shared loneliness and a desire for someone they can't have; to be honest, it's a shame The Fan wasn't more of a character study along these lines.
This movie will make you laugh when it's not intended to be funny but it's a fun way to switch your brain off for 90 minutes and isn't as bad as its reputation suggests.
The Fan is available to buy on DVD, Blu-Ray and on Amazon Prime Video.
IMDB: 5.7/10 Rotten Tomatoes: Critics = 38%, Audience = 33% (As of October 2021)
Dies? / Villain?
DEAD! Razor to the throat. Ouch! / It's Biehn's debut as the bad guy, the first of many!
What Does Michael Say?
"I had worked off that script in the casting process, and it was a really well done psychological thriller, and the cast in the movie – I was very excited, because it was Robert Stigwood, Lauren Bacall. I mean, it was huge, you know? Flying into New York and all that Stigwood press – I was more intimidated about being in such a big production than I was about working with Lauren Bacall or Garner. I had been working in television, and I thought I had the stuff, and Lauren Bacall certainly didn’t intimidate me." Den of Geek August 2011
What Did This Movie Teach Me?
If you need to commit murder, a trip to your local YMCA pool should do the trick.
Anything Else?
The Fan was based on an epistolary novel published in 1977 by Bob Randall, written purely as a series of letters back and forth between Douglas and Sally. Sadly we never get any of Sally's letters in the movie.
A couple of the musical numbers were written by Tim Rice of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita fame. I wonder what he thought of Lauren Bacall's interpretations of them.
The musical choreographer was none other than Arlene Phillips known in the UK in recent years as a former judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
Dana Delaney makes a blink and you'll miss it cameo during the record store scenes. Dana would later appear in Tombstone with Michael.
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