The Fourth Man (1983 film)

The Fourth Man
Theatrical release poster
Dutch	De vierde man
Directed by	Paul Verhoeven
Screenplay by	Gerard Soeteman
Based on	De vierde man by Gerard Reve
Produced by	Rob Houwer
Starring	Jeroen Krabbé Renée Soutendijk Thom Hoffman Dolf de Vries Geert de Jong Hans Veerman
Cinematography	Jan de Bont
Edited by	Ine Schenkkan
Music by	Loek Dikker
Production company	Rob Houwer Productions
Distributed by	Tuschinski Film Distribution
Release date	24 March 1983 (1983-03-24) (Netherlands)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	Netherlands
Language	Dutch

The Fourth Man (Dutch: De vierde man) is a 1983 Dutch psychological-erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Jeroen Krabbé, Renée Soutendijk and Thom Hoffman. Based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Gerard Reve, it follows Gerard, a bisexual writer who has a romantic encounter with a mysterious woman, Christine, and subsequently becomes enamored of Herman, another of her male lovers; while attempting to pursue Herman, Gerard is plagued by a series of disturbing visions suggesting Christine may be a murderess who has chosen him as her fourth victim.

Released in 1983, the film was a box-office success in the Netherlands, though it was a more significant commercial success in the United States, where it became the highest-grossing Dutch film of all time. It was the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 56th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[1] The film is sexually explicit and, like many of Verhoeven's other films, shows graphic violence and gore.