The 4th Man

Long before becoming Hollywood's poster boy director for big budget sex and violence films (Basic Instinct, RoboCop, and that legendary cinematic bellyflop Showgirls), director Paul Verhoeven made a string of notable films in his native Netherlands. Verhoeven's final Dutch effort, 1983's The 4th Man is an outrageous (even 18 years later) black comedy in which Gerard Reve, a gay, death-obsessed, semi-broke, alcoholic Catholic writer (Jeroen Krabbé, in a marvelous turn), hooks up with a beautiful young hairdresser named Christine (Renèe Soutendijk)--initially for free sex/food/lodging, but later with the hopes of making a move on her visiting Adonis-like boyfriend. Amidst the hedonistic fun, however, Reve finds himself increasingly plagued by nightmares and religious visions, leading to the discovery of a rather disconcerting fact: the young Christine is already thrice-black widowed. Murder? Madness? Coincidence? Only Reve's hairdresser knows for sure. Sure to torque the moral majority with its controversial imagery (including a Lorena Bobbitt-like dream sequence and a mildly homoerotic scene on a cross in a church), The 4th Man is, nevertheless, a corker of a thriller that is also, ironically, religiously affirming. Sporting a nice, richly saturated transfer on DVD, an illuminating commentary track with Verhoeven, and the director's original storyboards, this is highly recommended. Also newly available in the Verhoeven collection: Turkish Delight and Soldier of Orange, with Keetje Tippel slated for late October release. (R. Pitman)