80's Foreign Horror Part Twenty

THE FOURTH MAN

(1983)

Dir - Paul Verhoeven

Overall: GOOD

Paul Verhoeven's The Fourth Man, (De vierde man), is a fitting tribute to the author of whom the source material was based, being Gerard Reve and his quasi-autobiographical novel of the same name.  Jeroen Krabbé plays a fictionalized version of Reve; a rough-edged yet playful author who finds deep spiritual meaning amongst his hallucinations when he feels that his life is threatened by a witch.  Concurrent themes centered around both Catholicism and homosexuality run throughout the film, neither of which are played in any derogatory fashion.  This is in keeping with the author's personal views and explorations in his work and the story manages to be an evocative, suspense-laded thriller in the process which keeps it from being too heavy-handed.  Krabbé is excellent and committed in the lead and not just because he goes full frontal more than once and, (as a heterosexual), makes out with another male actor.  He encapsulates the stereotypically pretentious, yet attractive post-War writer who is brooding until spontaneously inspired by whatever lights his muse.  Verhoeven and cinematographer Jan de Bont concoct a number of compelling images as well; gory, erotic, and ethereal depending on the moment.

DEVIL STORY

(1986)

Dir - Bernard Launois

Overall: WOOF

Rightfully belonging on the short, (or long), list of the worst films that have ever existed, Devil Story, (Il était une fois... le diable), was the final travesty unleashed upon the world by French filmmaker Bernard Launois and his only one in the horror genre.  Even by the most forgiving of standards, this incomprehensible mess is an aggressively rough viewing.  The production aspects are on par with SOV nonsense from the time period and the laughable makeup and gore effects look that much worse in completely nonatmospheric settings.  Everybody spends almost the entirely of the movie outside where it is either bright and sunny or indecipherably dark, and as far as the story goes, it seems to be cobbled together from unrelated segments.  A guy in a mask, (one that is a combination of Grandpa from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a pig), never stops loudly grunting as he murders passersby one after the other, then a couple have car trouble and must stay at a creepy house, (that ole gag), where they meet a weird family before a woman in a dress and a mummy walk around doing nothing.  The credits hit out of nowhere, but thankfully they come at the seventy-five minute mark instead of any later, which is the only nice thing that can be said about the whole embarrassing affair.

 

PIN

(1988)

Dir - Sandor Stern

Overall: GOOD

 

The only non-television work to be directed by Sandor Stern, Pin, (Pin: A Plastic Nightmare), has a premise that is difficult to take seriously, but this ends up working to the movie's disturbed credit.  Based on the novel of the same name by Andrew Neiderman, it takes the frequented subject matter of a highly unstable person disturbingly connecting with a dummy, or in this case an anatomically correct medical one that a strict, emotionally neglectful doctor uses to teach his children about various things related to anatomy and human body functions.  The narrative has an interesting structure where it begins with a tease that sets up the concept that the dummy of the title is certainly meant to be creepy, only to go back fifteen years and spend the first act with the two leads as children before returning to the present day for the remainder of the film.  While the plot follows predictable beats concerning David Hewlett's character who is psychologically detached at an early age due to his parent's eccentric, over-bearing nature, Stern manages to create a persistent aura of dread even when little happens of a violent nature throughout most of the running time.  Undoubtedly strange with its tongue in cheek, its themes of mental illness, unhealthy attachment, and stunted sexuality make for purposely unsettling results.