You may find your patience tried by this initially slow-moving thriller, but my advice is to stick with it until the end as it's one of those films that starts off as just okay and builds into something that's great. This was the film that worked as the ticket for Paul Verhoeven to move to Hollywood, although it ironically took four years for this to actually be released worldwide. Verhoeven then went on to even greater fame and success with his masterpiece ROBOCOP, and the rest, as they say, is history.Fans of Verhoeven's later successes will no doubt be aware of the rather excessive nature of his films in the depiction of gore, violence, nudity, and sex. This one is no exception, beginning as it does with the lead walking around completely naked. Throughout the film, Verhoeven does his best to try and offend the church, with his repeated religious imagery, some of it blasphemous (in one instance, Gerard visits a church and sees a life size statue of Christ being crucified; he images that it is Herman on the wall, and proceeds to strip him). The straight and homosexual sex scenes are also explicit, so be warned.Throughout the first hour, not a lot really happens in the way of plot development, although we have an intelligent and literate script to make things easier to watch. I've only previously seen a couple of Dutch thrillers, the likes of THE LIFT and AMSTERDAMNED, and they all seem to have the same kind of grotty yet down-to-earth quality about them; a result of the less-than-hefty budget, no doubt. This film is much the same, and Verhoeven isn't one for fancy camera-work either; he shoots his films matter-of-factly, and scores points by not being afraid to experiment.At around the hour mark, the plot really begins to kick into gear, when Gerard discovers the films showing Christine's string of marriages. It is here that our first suspicions about her being something other than a nice, young, innocent girl are aroused, and the tension begins to grow. As a way to include the fantastic into an otherwise realistic film, Verhoeven uses the old trick of our lead having hideous nightmares, where we see eyes bulging and dropping out of doorways, images of castration and lots more besides. The finale is excellent, with a truly shocking and gruesome demise for one of the man in a car accident, and then an ambiguous ending.The acting is pretty much excellent, especially in the case of Jeroen Krabbé, who also found this to be his ticket to Hollywood. Krabbé brings charisma and depth to his role of the tormented crime writer. Soutendijk is suitably mysterious as the lover who may or may not be a killer, while Hoffman is surprisingly effective as the muscular lover who does have a brain in his head after all. Fans of Verhoeven's BASIC INSTINCT would be wise to watch this film, as this is where plenty of ideas seem to have been taken from. THE FOURTH MAN is an above average thriller, and the good story, script and performances make it one to watch.

This film functions like an intricate puzzle. its visuals and class give away to an incredibly well written plot ..don't want to give much away, but this is the definition of ART HOUSE horror! Suspenseful and Cerebral, you'll love pacing together the hints. The horror scenes are no joke and they remind me of 2 other great horror films, SUSPIRIA and DON'T LOOK NOW. Maybe its because they were shot in Europe, maybe its because they're all artistic and visually stunning, maybe because there's a lot that stays in the mind even after the film ends, or maybe because they don't quite give away the story and instead let the viewer figure it out, or maybe its because its just a a great movie just like those 2, either or its an EXCELLENT Film. Final Grade, A-

Paul Verhoeven's earlier Dutch thriller follows a superstitious writer (Jeroen Krabbe) who meets an eccentric woman attending one of his public seminars and begins an affair with her; while staying at her home for an extended period, he is plagued with disturbing visions and incidents, and becomes infatuated with one of her other male lovers.Fans of Verhoeven's neo-noir classic "Basic Instinct" should find plenty of interest here, as the films cross paths in terms of some thematics and the cinematic aspect of the lover's triad, though "The Fourth Man" is actually a much better film in some ways. While not as remarkably violent as some of his other work, it is a solid and transfixing thriller that is as perturbing as it is engaging; as off putting as it is erotic. Verhoeven wears influences on his sleeve, clearly drawing on ye good old days of American Hollywood noir with spatterings of Alfred Hitchcock and Ingmar Bergman for good taste. The touches of surrealism are prevalent enough to arrest the audience, but are still left in an inconspicuous enough territory to be debated and thought provoking. Never does the film edge into gaudiness, which is another remarkable feat here— the surrealist colorings are wholly immersed in the reality of the story, blending into an endless portrait of premonitions, fears, and paranoia that is still firmly anchored in a cohesive plot.Remarkable performances here from Jeroen Krabbé and Renée Soutendijk, as well as Thom Hoffman's understated performance as the object of Krabbé's intense sexual affections. Among a multitude of other things, the film is truly a pioneer of queer cinema, brazen in its depiction of male homosexuality and laden with surprisingly baffling religious, supernatural, and feminist themes that are difficult to decipher in spite of their obvious existence within.No less, "The Fourth Man" is one of the most transfixing thrillers of its time, brilliantly crafting the surreal alongside the darker aspects of film noir, all taken to understated extremes. While many people probably think of David Lynch as the first filmmaker to do this, you may be surprised to know that Paul Verhoeven was toying with similar elements back in Netherlands in the 1980s; while Lynch infamously took this to subconscious levels, Verhoeven rather leaves us somewhere in the middle— in a dream, or maybe in a nightmare. 9/10.

As a huge fan of Paul Verhoeven's contribution to Hollywood in the late 80's and early 90's i found myself compelled to dig deeper to investigate some of his Dutch language offerings. I started with this, The Fourth Man. One of my favourite films of the early 90's was Basic Instinct. That film had a larger than life appeal and the two actors, Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone fizzed together on screen. Watching The Fourth Man was like meeting Basic Instinct's older, slightly more weathered sister. The film doesn't have the gloss of Basic Instinct, but i still found it to be a useful and interesting experience. The similarities with it's more celebrated and younger counterpart are all there to be seen. The writer, the bisexual element, the blonde femme fatale who enjoys taking risks involving driving too fast, the blood, the sex, i think you get the picture. The Fourth Man isn't without it's own surprises though. Some of the symbolism is truly shocking and provocative. One particular scene in a Catholic church will really push buttons, but i guess that's Verhoeven and that's why i love his work. For me, The Fourth Man would never go down as a true classic. Sure it has some stand out moments and some very good ideas, but the execution wasn't there for me. That said, without it we may never have had Basic Instinct so for that, i am thankful.