The Fourth Man
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Year Released: 1983
Rating: 1.5
Crazed, alcoholic writer ends up with 'black widow' literature fan/hair-stylist and is convinced she killed her first three husbands and is after her current beau. Verhoeven tries hard to be like the Master of Suspense, but this can almost be called 'bad Hitchcock', using some really obvious dream symbolism to keep the story going (everything the writer dreams comes true), but without making any of it convincing. It doesn't develop into much of a story either - by the time the protagonist gets around to voicing his concerns, the movie's almost over (and when it does end, I was left thinking 'Is that all there is?'). Verhoeven's homophobia is in full-gear here, and his 'shocking' use of Catholic imagery (a nude Jesus, for example) is totally unnecessary.
