Summary:
An obsessive fan stalks his favorite movie star.
My Thoughts:
I’ve seen quite a few bad horror movies because I really enjoy watching bad horror movies. There’s something inherently entertaining about watching a movie and expecting one emotion (fear) but the sheer incompetence of the execution leads the viewer to experience the exact opposite emotion (amusement). This movie received absolutely abysmal reviews, and the trailer (which is nothing short of amazing) showcased a bizarre performance by John Travolta (“Pulp Fiction”) that I knew I didn’t want to miss. So, sitting down with my roommates, we commenced the viewing of “The Fanatic” and soon found ourselves chuckling, but then after a few moments, we found ourselves just shaking our heads. This movie is weird, but it’s not hilarious through-and-through. John Travolta’s performance is definitely worth witnessing, but practically everything else in this movie is a mess.
“I can’t talk too long. I gotta poo.”
Moose (Travolta) is a man with a social disability whom is obsessed with a movie star named Hunter Dunbar (Devon Sawa, “Final Destination”). He stalks Hunter until things get out of hand.
So I think this film’s biggest problem is that it really doesn’t know what it wants to say or whom it wants us to root for. Our main character, Moose, is a bit strange. Though I don’t claim to have any sort of psych background, my diagnoses would be to say he’s on the fringe of some kind of serious mental/social disability; he has issues reading social cues, he says awkward things in weird ways (the “I can’t talk too long. I gotta poo.” line is the first line of the film), and he tends to obsess over trivial things. His character is also weird because he’s only somewhat sympathetic due to the fact he’s also pretty annoying. Moose’s main goal in life seems to be to collect autographs of famous people, and Moose’s favorite actor is Hunter Dunbar.
Eventually, Moose gets the opportunity to meet Hunter, but shortly before Hunter signs an autograph for Moose, Hunter is called away and Moose is devastated. Moose vows to get Hunter’s autograph no matter what, so, he starts stalking Hunter. Hunter comes off as kind of a jerk, which lead me to ask the question: if our protagonist is an unlikeable weirdo and the antagonist (?) is a horrendous jerk, whom exactly am I rooting for? And what, exactly, is the purpose in this film? I couldn’t tell you.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
As the movie goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that John Travolta’s character needs serious counseling or help, but instead he is continues trying to get an autograph. There’s not a very deep plot in this film; that’s the extent of the whole movie. We just watch Hunter thwart Moose’s attempts at getting an autograph again and again until eventually, Moose breaks into Hunter’s home, ties Hunter to his bed and screams at him for a bit until Hunter convinces Moose that the two of them can be friends. When Moose unties Hunter, Hunter practically kills Moose (in a shockingly violent way that feels completely out of place from the rest of the film), but then relents at the last second and decides to let Moose live. Hunter then just lets Moose walk out of his house and the film wraps up without any sense of closure.
Verdict:
This is a bad movie, but John Travolta’s performance is pretty funny. I honestly can’t say I’d recommend this movie even as a so-bad-it’s-good kind of way, because most of the movie is just sort of boring. There are certainly a few stand out moments, but overall this is an incredibly forgettable run of the mill stalker flick.
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