Flesh + Blood (1985)
Medieval adventure films aren’t really my thing, but when Verhoeven has made it, my curiosity is piqued. Unsurprisingly, it is trashy, pulpy, bloody and with some really questionable rapey scenes followed by an unsettling Stockholm-syndrome narrative. Well sort of, because character motivations and actions are all over the place here. Everything has an improvised feel to it. I was strangely reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail as it shares some peculiar similarities. The music is sort of similar, and the decision making process for the group sword wielding knights is equally silly in both films.
I would think this film is mostly worthy of interest for Verhoeven fans, as it has his signatures, but it doesn’t have the quality or the perfectly balanced satire and sleaziness of his later films.
Rating: 3.5