In this tale told by Paul Verhoeven and written by Gerard Soeteman, we follow a group of medieval mercenaries who get double-crossed by their commanding officer, which leads them down a path of revenge, crime and bloodshed. Essentially it's a Robin Hood story, or an underdog tale, but with no punches pulled and with a taste for the gore and splatter. Verhoeven is most known for his dark scifi action films, like Total Recall and RoboCop, but this film is very much his creation when it comes to the style.

And I have to admit that I like it a lot. Verhoeven's signature style is all over the screen with this one and it just might be one of the most brutal medieval adventure films I've ever seen. No one comes out of this film unscathed and it's such a jaded film that it's even hard to pick sides. The mercenaries are justified in their lust for revenge, but they also end up kidnapping the bride of the son of their betrayer and abusing her in very dark ways. On the other hand the bride is not a saint either, and very much not a damsel in distress, being willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Whereas the son of the betrayer, the groom as it may be, is perhaps the most virtuous of the whole cast, but even he has his dark tendencies.

And it's just a great adventure film in its own right. The setting is great, the characters are all shades of awesome, the action scenes are just the right amount of over the top and the whole film has this unmistakable style of the 80s. Blood and gore, smoke and shadows.

Very much worth a watch for all fans of dark and one of my favourite Verhoeven movies.

I find it amusing to think that I owe my discovery of director Paul Verhoeven to British chat-show host Michael Parkinson (famous for being attacked by hand puppet Emu): when Parky briefly took over from Barry Norman as presenter of BBC1's weekly film review show, he lambasted Flesh + Blood, saying that he was so appalled by what he had seen that he had to walk out of the cinema mid-film. That was all the recommendation I needed. I grabbed a seat at the first available showing and a new Verhoeven fan was born.

What made the film such a fun experience in my opinion was in seeing just how far Verhoeven was willing to go to upset sensitive individuals like Parkinson. Like much of the Dutch director's output, Flesh + Blood is a glorious exercise in excess-a riotous medieval romp that misses no opportunity to rub the viewer's nose in its filth and debauchery. Verhoeven's carefree approach is reflected in the film's outrageous plot, a general disregard for historical accuracy, the wanton sex and violence, and the many absurdly grotesque characters.

Set in Western Europe in 1501, the film opens with Arnolfini (Fernando Hilbeck) attempting to forcefully win back his town, the siege led by Captain Hawkwood (Jack Thompson),who has employed an army of mercenaries to help with the campaign. Once successfully inside the town, Arnolfini reneges on his deal with the hired soldiers, kicking them out minus their spoils and weapons. As payback for their betrayal, the band of mercenaries attack Arnolfini and steal his wagons, accidentally kidnapping Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh),intended wife of Arnolfini's son Steven (Tom Burlinson),in the process. At the mercy of these moral-free reprobates, Agnes uses her womanly wiles and sexy young body to stay alive, seducing Martin (Rutger Hauer),the strongest of the mercenaries, keeping him happy until Steven can organise a rescue mission.

Verhoeven has a blast, filling his film with numerous scenes designed to push the boundaries: a seduction that takes place beneath a pair of rotting, hanged corpses; a stillborn baby being buried in a barrel; Agnes learning about the birds and the bees from her maid (played by Nancy 'Bart Simpson' Cartwright, who goes topless!); a semi-naked nun suffering seizures, having had her head hacked open by Hawkwood; the gang rape of Agnes by Martin and his men; a steamy jacuzzi sex scene in which Jennifer Jason Leigh leaves little to the imagination. The director also has fun with a few moments designed to seriously test the viewer's ability to suspend disbelief, most notably the introduction of a medieval tank that turns into an extendable ladder, and Steven's escape from shackles that involves electrocuting himself with a convenient lightning bolt.

An excellent cast of supporting players gamely tackle the demented lunacy, with cult favourite Brion James as mercenary Karsthans, Ronald Lacey (of Raiders of the Lost Ark fame) as a deviant cardinal, and Susan Tyrell as brash, foul-mouthed whore Celine. The film also benefits from excellent cinematography from Jan De Bont, director of Speed and Twister, and a rousing score from Basil Poledouris, who would go on to work with Verhoeven on Robocop and Starship Troopers.

This film is definitely off the beaten track. I enjoyed it a lot, and thought that there were some truly stand-out performances here, notably Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Some other actors and actresses that I didn't recognize were excellent. The tone is relentlessly bleak as befits the times. A couple of scenes put the times in perspective. One is where Agnes and Stephen talk and flirt beneath the hanging corpses without giving much thought to what we would consider today the horrid nature of such a sight. Another is towards the end, when one of the women has been captured (Polly, I think) and is being raped, and the lord (Stephen's father) simply walks past, barely noticing. I don't know if they are simply there for shock value, or if Verhoeven is making the point that one cannot judge mores, morals, and customs of past ages by the standards of today. (Something done quite a bit these days, most notably about slavery.)

Some of the criticisms in other comments are valid. True, none of the characters are very likeable. I was sort of hoping that they would all be dead by the end of the movie. But, again, I'm judging them by 21st century standards. Also, about the plague. I'm sure Verhoeven knows that plague is spread by rat fleas, so all of the machinations about the plague has to be from people's points of view in 1501-2.

This film is worth viewing, but don't expect gallantry, chivalry, or even decency. And no, it's really not a "date movie" Grade: A