[.ca] The Fan (Widescreen)

From Amazon.com:
Lauren Bacall brings poise, dignity, and steely defiance to this entry into the 1980s slasher film genre. Her aging silver-screen and Broadway star is so stressed by her musical theater debut and jealous of her ex-husband's (James Garner) marriage to a lovely young thing that she misses all the stalker warning signs. Before she knows it, one obsessive fan (Michael Biehn) lets his fantasies spill over into psychosis. "We will become lovers very soon, my darling. And I assure you I have all the equipment," he writes before slicing up her friends. It calls for the elegance of Brian De Palma, which dutiful but dull first-timer Edward Bianchi can't provide. The pleasures come from sassy gal Friday Maureen Stapleton and Ms. Bacall, whose grace under pressure and cinematic confidence lend dignity to the proceedings. Pino Donnaggio's ominous score recalls Bernard Hermann's work with Hitchcock. Marvin Hamlisch and Tim Rice provide the show tunes. --Sean Axmaker

edge of your seat thriller:
I HAVE TO SAY, AFTER I SAW THIS MOVIE IN THE THEATRE , I LOOKED FOR IT EVERYWHERE !!! BECALL AND GARDNER ARE FANTASTIC . THEIR STAR POWER COMES THROUGH .I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT .I WATCH THIS FILM OVER AND OVER , IT NEVER GETS OLD. YOU TRULY HAVE TO LOVE " OLD HOLLYWOOD " TO APRECIATE THIS MOVIE AS MUCH AS I . IT IS VERY MUCH WORTH TAKING A LOOK SEE.

THE FAN is worthy of a look:
It's great that "THE FAN" has finally made it onto DVD. It's a very interesting little flick. I read the heart-stopping novel by Bob Randall when I was in high school; the book is a real page-turner - there is no narrartive - it is told entirely as a series of letters and notes between all of the main characters. Being a FAN of the book, I was really DYING to see the movie. I must admit though that the movie, while extremely well-cast and fairly suspenseful, is flawed by the Hollywoodization of the ending. The ending of the novel packed a gut-wrenching wallop which is completely missing from the film. A shame. Watch the DVD, then read the book!!

PARAMOUNT HAS MADE MORE EDITS ! ! ! !:
Paramount should not release DVD's anymore if they continue to edit them. ... This time they have edited the scene where the killer reads a letter in voice-over where he originally makes reference to raping a woman using a "meat cleaver." ....

Disappointingly bad:
I had high hopes for this film, as I love Lauren Bacall & Maureen Stapleton. And while they're both as good as they can be, nothing can save this film from the bad script, the choppy editing, and the strange leaps in logic and story. I can't address some of the negative elements without spoiling the film, but I'll say that some the public occurences would never have taken place without someone getting caught, some of the lines are so stilted & stiff that, even when delivered well, sound hackneyed and trite, and a lot of the shots are drawn out with little apparent point. Additionally, there are other odd inconsistencies, like Bacall treating a police lieutenant as if she hadn't interacted with him before even though they'd seen each other the day before. Finally, as much as I love Bacall, she just *can't* sing. There are several musical numbers in the film (written by Marvin Hamlisch & Tim Rice, iirc), and while she can sassily speak her way through a song, the ballads are painful. I know she's won two Tony awards; she must have won them on the strength of her acting because her voice is awful. And the end - ugh! Aside from the problems with staging in the end, it just sucks. This film isn't as bad as, say, Hannibal, but it's a ship that's destined to sink.

BACALL TRIES, FILM FAILS....:
I have always liked Lauren Bacall as a "tough dame" type actress and her gritty outspokeness off-stage. But this film was a mistake. Maybe in the hands of a better director it would have worked. Bacall tries to make the dilemma of an aging stage star terrorized by a psychotic stalker believable but everything is against her. She forges ahead with her "comeback" Broadway show even after several of those near and dear to her are either slashed to death or just slashed by the straight-razor weilding weirdo who sends her dirty "fan" letters. The facial slashing of poor Maureen Stapleton is downright ugly and repugnant. But it sure heals fast in time for the opening of Bacalls' show. No one could have healed that fast---the multiple slashes were DEEP. Bacall trudges through her stage show numbers surrounded by adoring male dancers. After all, Broadway has been called the Gay White Way and no aging diva would set foot onstage without adoring male dancers. James Garner is utterly wasted as her love interest. He seems to be in the movie just because the two are friends. At any rate, despite Bacall's formidable presence this is a tacky New York filmed slasher show that disappoints on all counts. Bacall deserved better than this.