Rob Houwer Productions, 1983
starring: Jeroen Krabbe, Renee Soutendijk, Thom Hoffman
directed by: Paul Verhoeven

the plot: Gerard (Krabbe), an alcoholic, bisexual writer, leaves Amsterdam to deliver a lecture in the provinces. There he begins a casual affair with Christine (Soutendijk), a boyish, icy blonde. When he meets Christine’s young, loutish lover, Herman (Hoffman), Gerard becomes obsessed (“I must have him!”). At the same time, Gerard begins to suspect that Christine has murdered three previous lovers, and that either Herman or he may be next.

why it’s good: The credits sequence alone is disturbing—a large spider spins a web on a graphic carving of the crucified Christ, capturing and paralyzing flies as it moves on its murderous course. The camera pulls back to reveal the naked writer Gerard with a deadly hangover. Morning wine allows him to shave with steady hands, and indulge in a fantasy of murdering his younger, live-in lover. From this startling opening, the film adopts the unexpected track of a first-class thriller, overlaid with horror tones and Catholic mysticism. The cinematography by Jan de Bont, who would go on to direct the action blockbuster “Speed” (1994), is beautiful in both day and night scenes.

why you should own it: The late Gerard Reve was one of the most interesting and controversial Dutch writers of the post-war years. A devout Catholic, he flirted with blasphemy and heresy in his novels, and formulated an intriguing ethos that pitted base materialism against the purity of the spiritual. He was homosexual, but much more significantly, perverse (as he would happily agree). His combination of humor, piety, lust, and theological theory has never seen an equal. Sadly, very few of his works have been translated into English. In his native Netherlands, director Paul Verhoeven produced a series of intelligent and stylish films: “Turkish Delight” (1973), “Katie’s Passion” (1975), “Soldier of Orange” (1977), and “Spetters” (1980). He then moved to Hollywood, where he proceeded to churn out “Robocop” (1987), “Basic Instinct” (1992) and “Showgirls” (1995). Guess he never should have left Holland, huh? The Anchor Bay DVD is superb, but with little in the way of extras.