10 Obscure Films You Must See
7. Spetters (dir. Paul Verhoeven, 1980)
Long before Paul Verhoeven was lighting up Hollywood with Robocop, Total Recall and Basic Instinct, he was ruffling feathers back in his native Netherlands with the likes of Spetters, his answer to Animal House and Saturday Night Fever. This coming-of-age story centres around three potential motocross racing champions, who are seduced by Fientje (Dutch sex object Renee Soutendijk), a fast food seller who rolls into town with her gay brother. The title comes from Dutch slang for hunks, or splatters, referring to the scene where a biker has boiling chip oil poured down his trousers (ouch).
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Coming at the height of the gross-out wave that also included Porkys and Lemon Popsicle, Spetters sets itself apart by its inventive jokes and the sheer audacity of its characters. Its par for the course in terms of nudity, both for a Dutch film and a gross-out comedy, but there are some good life lessons in amongst the flesh and blood (another Paul Verhoeven film). As a bonus, it features a pre-Blade Runner Rutger Hauer is a silver-haired biker whats not to like? Three Men on a Blog review - The Movie Hour podcast: #35