7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Teenager Simone appears to be like any other young pop fan. But soon her fixation on the band’s lead singer “R” takes over her life. She walks out of her school, breaks off from her friends and parents and somehow finds herself waiting for her idol as he appears on a TV show. Simone wants nothing more than to love and be loved by “R”, but he uses her with machine-like coldness. When he walks out on her to join his friends, she plots her revenge. She plans the ultimate sacrifice of her god on the altar of her madness, a ceremony as exalted and romantic as it is horribly wonderful.
Starring: Désirée Nosbusch, Bodo Steiger, Simone Brahmann, Jonas Vischer, Helga TölleHorror | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
German: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Eckhart Schmidt's "The Fan" a.k.a. "Der Fan" (1982) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent U.S. distributors Mondo Macabro. The supplemental features on the disc include a video interview with the German director; cast/crew and production profiles; and more. In German or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
The star and his fan
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Eckhart Schmidt's The Fan arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Mondo Macabro.
The high-definition transfer has been struck from a pre-existing master and there are some obvious fluctuations in terms of definition and clarity. Generally speaking, the majority of the daylight footage has a pleasing organic appearance. Most close-ups, in particular, boast decent depth (see screencapture #2). The darker indoor footage, however, is quite inconsistent. In fact, I have to speculate that the master might be a reconstruction job of some sort as there are some pretty drastic fluctuations that impact definition, depth, and clarity. For example, during the family gathering early into the film, there is a sudden drop in clarity and depth that occurs during a single transition (see screencapture #3 and screencapture #11). Elsewhere there are also traces of light denoising, though it is obvious that they are not recent (see screencapture #7). During a few darker sequences some light artifacts also attempt to sneak and at least one of these sequences once again exhibits the same drop in clarity and depth. For the most part colors appear natural, but saturation is most convincing during the daylight sequences (see screencapture #12). There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Finally, a few minor scratches pop up here and there, but overall image stability is good. To sum it all up, even though the presentation is somewhat inconsistent, for the most part the film does have a relatively good organic appearance. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: German DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. For the record, Mondo Macabro have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
Generally speaking, depth and clarity are pleasing, but it is easy to tell that The Fan was shot with a small budget. Indeed, there is some minor unevenness when music is used to further enhance the unique atmosphere and some transitions appear a bit uneven. Some extremely light background hiss occasionally makes its presence felt, but it never becomes distracting. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in this review.
Eckhart Schmidt's The Fan can easily be compared to Andrzej Zulawski's Possession. It is a very interesting time capsule whose unusual story is actually a metaphor for Germany's fascination with Adolph Hitler and National Socialism. Mondo Macabro offer the film's fully uncut version on Blu-ray, which marks its official home video debut in the United States. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1987
2018
Al filo del hacha
1988
1987
1988
1980
1973
Unrated Collector's Edition
2007
Director's Cut
1963
2015
2018
2017
2014
Haunted
2014
2013
Standard Retail Special Edition
1979
2007
Uncut
2008
1984
1987