After the demise of Scorpio Films, Verstappen directed two films based on novels by Simon Vestdijk, Pastorale 1943 (1978) and Het verboden bacchanaal (1981). While the first was a commercial success, drawing an audience of over a million, the second film flopped, as did two later films, De Zwarte Ruiter (1983) and De Ratelrat (1987).