Time to reveal the 4xblu online store’s latest bundle of additions, which consists of Joe Dante’s “The ‘Burbs,” Marcel Carne’s “Port of Shadows,” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Spetters.”
Unlike Paul Verhoeven’s first four feature length pictures, “Spetters” was not derived from a novel. However, like its predecessors “Spetters” is based on a script by Gerard Soeteman and features actor Rutger Hauer (whom Verhoeven had actually begun working with on a TV series called “Floris” back in 1969). Hauer’s role in “Spetters,” as the motorbike racing champion Gerrit Witkamp, is relatively small — the heart of the film is actually a trio of young racers who idolize Witkamp and a girl named Fientje that each of them attempts to woo, to varying degrees of success. She works the concessions stand at the races with her brother and dreams of more than just spending her life over a deep fryer. At the time of its release the film generated a fair bit of controversy, and it still has the potential to offend those who take issue with certain politically incorrect statements regarding race, sex, and religion. That said, as Verhoeven has been no stranger to controversy over the years his fans probably know what to expect.