Der Fan + Kier-la Janisse: Book signing and Q&A 18

Disturbed teen Simone is a fantasist who spends much of her time writing fan letters to ‘R’, a Gary Numan-esque synth pop star. Every day she awaits the postman for a reply but one never comes. As her obsessive fandom intensifies, Simone resolves to meet her idol, tracking him down to the recording of a television special in Berlin. In her mind, if she can only make R aware of her devotion, then her love will be reciprocated and they’ll live happily ever after. Unfortunately when they finally meet, R treats Simone like every other doe-eyed groupie, sleeping with her before rejecting her. But Simone is not like the others, and when her dreams of love are shattered, her madness overflows in an explosion of violence. With a phenomenal central performance by Désirée Nosbusch, Der Fan is one of the most chilling portrayals of psychotic teenage obsession ever committed to film.

Renowned writer, curator and director Kier-La Janisse is joining Matchbox Cine for a UK tour in support of a 10th anniversary expanded edition of her seminal book, House of Psychotic Women. Founder of CineMuerte Film Festival in Vancouver, and The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, Janisse is a former head film programmer for, among others, the Alamo Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest, and served as Festival Director of Monsterfest in Melbourne. More recently, she produced and directed the comprehensive, award-winning documentary, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horrot. But she is perhaps best known for House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films, a groundbreaking hybrid of personal memoir and film criticism and a definitive study of female madness onscreen; described by Video Watchdog’s Tim Lucas as one of the 10 “most vital” horror film books of all time. There will be an opportunity to buy copies of the new edition of HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN and get it signed by Kier-La Janisse after the Q&A.

The House of Psychotic Women UK Tour is presented by Matchbox Cine as part of In Dreams Are Monsters: A Season of Horror Films, a UK-wide film season supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.

This screening will feature descriptive subtitles and live captions, to ensure the events are accessible to as many people as possible.