Lots of over-the-top symbolism combined with some pretty great shots makes for good entertainment

There are more heavy-handed religious symbols than boobs or penises in this movie. But the fact that there's both is not surprising for a Dutch film, and Verhoeven seems to have little fear of going all out. He always hammers home messages in a curiously entertaining and very watchable way. (Browsing other reviews I would warn against anything that's been edited, particularly at the hands of some conservative American editor)

I cannot tell how Verhoeven expects me to take this. Too serious for camp, too silly for anything else - either way it's ridiculous entertainment.

Like Starship Troopers, this works both as a piss-take of the genre it inhabits and as a successful genre movie in itself. Crass symbolism, decadence and nudity abound, all done in a tongue-in-cheek, "anything goes" additude that should be the rule and not the exception in arthouse features. A movie that spits in the eyes of all wankers everywhere.

DO NOT SEE the dubbed into english for Americans version which has scenes cut from it (and cool ones at that). If you have to start off somewhere when viewing Verhoeven you could do far worse than this complex/fun/gory as hell thriller with excellent performances particularly from Krabbe & Soutendijk. For me this was a must see (and believe it or not aired UNCUT by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation a few years back, which got LOTS of complaints from Queensland...)

A dutch thriller about a writer who falls in the web a woman who's previous husbands all died. Is he or her loverboy the next one?

Colorful thriller that throws the viewer off with symbolic imagery and surreal fantasy sequences. Might be considered pretentious by some, but its obviously deliberately overdone in a sort of trashy arthouse style, while retaining beautiful visuals and telling a pretty straightforward story. Seeing this movie you realize Verhoeven had to be picked up by Hollywood sooner or later.

A really curious blend of tension and silliness, bending the reality of the film along with the main character's quirks. It's effective because the film acknowledges that it's telling something of a tall tale while keeping a semblance of grounding and the lead actor is really good at keeping switching the tone of the film naturally.

I fail to see what the big deal is about this movie

i heart verhoeven

Nice Movie