THE FOURTH MAN

This event is part of Forbidden Worlds Film Festival: The Big Scream 2026. Visit **\www.forbiddenworldsfilmfestival.co.uk** **to see the full line-up as well as buy weekend and day festival passes. **

Original Title: De vierde man | Dir. Paul Verhoeven | The Netherlands | 102 mins | Cert. 18

“(Combining) bizarre multi-sexual eroticism, weird religious imagery, Argento-like horror film shivers and very sly black humour, The Fourth Man is an unusual, tasty picture that balances audacious symbolism with wicked wit.” - Kim Newman

Before he moved to Hollywood to make the likes of Robocop and Total Recall, Paul Verhoeven’s last Dutch film was The Fourth Man - a psychological thriller that, as you’d expect, combines shocking violence, black comedy and erotic melodrama.

The film delves into the twisted psyche of alcoholic novelist Gerard Reve (Jeroen Krabbé, best known to English-speaking audiences for his roles in The Fugitive and the James Bond film The Living Daylights), who becomes entangled with a mysterious woman who has a history of leaving dead lovers in her wake.

As Gerard’s world spirals into a world of erotic desire and deceit, he must navigate the blurred lines between reality and fantasy to uncover the truth. 

Indulge your senses, challenge your perceptions, and join us for one of Verhoeven's most audacious and accomplished works, packed full of violent visions, religious symbolism and erotic fantasies.

The film will be introduced by Allie Quinn and Sal Creber, programmers of Reel Life Monsters.

This film will be screened in its original Dutch language and will be subtitled.

Special thanks to the Rob Houwer Estate and NedFilm for permitting this screening of the film.