Amsterdamned (1988) Horror Slasher

  Amsterdamned (1988) -  This is a slasher film I had never seen, it opens with a POV of someone in the water in the canals of Amsterdam. The sound and the ducking under the water of this point of view tells us that it is someone in scuba gear. When the diver steals a butcher knife from a restaurant we know we are going to get right to the business of this slasher film right away. Moving right to the first kill establishes the setting, a poor sex worker after fighting off a cab driver is stabbed to death and dragged in to the canal but a killer in a scuba suit.  We have a setting but the fun that has just begun does not stop there. Wasting no time a tourist boat full of scouts runs into the body of the sex worker that the killer hung from a bridge scarring the poor kids for life.
  After being introduce to our feature cop Eric (Huub Stapel) and his teenage daughter Anneke (Tatum Dagelet) we get right into the solving of the canal killer. At this point you could anticipate that the cop will be on the case and that some time in the future his daughter will be at risk from the killer. This film does not waste time and we soon get a second murder scene where two guys collecting water samples from the canals are brutalized and left in their blood splattered boat. Eric meets John van Meegeren (Wim Zomer) a river cop. The two have a history with Eric's exwife so they have that we can work together but will show each other a bit of attitude kinda relationship. We will see if John saves Eric's life later in the movie, that is what the dynamic suggest. Now the cops know there is a diver prowling the canals so they have to hop into action to solve the crimes. Time to check out diving schools and all registered divers. They red herring the manager of the local dive club a bit but Eric being there is also so he can meet his love interest in the film Laura (Monique van de Ven). Also we meet Martin, a psychiatrist and former diver.
The murder scenes and body discovery scenes are pretty good in this film and as the bodies pile up pressure goes up for Eric to solve the crimes. We learn that Martin could be a suspect also a guy who use to dive but gave it up after some kind of event. We also see that there are canals all over this city and that will make it hard to track down the killer. Of course he goes from stalking and killing at night to killing in the middle of the day. A cool visual as he kills a pretty waitress who is floating on the canal getting sun in her plastic raft. Even with pressure from the Mayor we see a bit of internal politics and the way the bureaucracy works in the country. I like how Eric's boss defends him to the Mayor even though he has spent more time pursuing Laura than the case. You can also feel the Giallo influences on this film, its blue lighting at night mixed with reds, close ups of feet, hands and weapons it all works in what really has turned into a police procedural for the most part. The police get a lead but miss the guy as he rides away on a motorcycle. There is a chase scene that I was not expecting as the cops try to corner the man on the motorcycle. This lead seems like a red herring also. His arrest sets up the trope where the higher up officials want this guy to be prosecuted but Eric is not sure he has his man. What to do, oh yeah Laura and Eric get to bump uglies while we get another murder thus proving Eric was right.
  I loved the underwater scuba fight the cops death. We have boats following the bubbles of the killer from their boats. A real slow motion chase scene that still seems to have a bit of tension. They eventually trap the bubble producer in a lock so they just have to wait for him to run out of air and surface. They start pumping the water out of the lock sure that they have the killer but when the water level falls enough we see he shed his tanks and got away. Still after him though they think they have him again only to see him slip through their hands. Since this is about the canals in Amsterdam the movie can't be complete without a boat chase scene on the waterways. Eric pursues a guy dressed in black leather  all though the city at high speed. So reminiscent of like a James Bond movie even at the end with the giant explosion. The pursuit then continues on foot through the sewers. Eric is shot with a dart and passes out but not before shooting the guy.

  The story switches from hospitalized Eric to love interest Laura, she arrive at her therapy session where Martin is late. As she listened t music the camera pans the room focusing on a door in the back of the apartment. Laura hears a bang and goes to investigate. Searching the boat house because of course he lives on the canals and now our suspicion about him is raised. As Laura walks around we see the discarded Salvation Army collection can and we have to believe that Martin is the killer. Now Laura is in jeopardy being at his place all alone and not suspecting him. Then she finds his wet suit with water on it and his mask shattered and she knows. She calls the hospital to talk to Eric but he is still passed out from medication. She should just call the police but apparently is too panicked to think of it. Martin comes home and she has to hide.  Will Eric learn about Laura being trapped with Martin in time? Can Laura find a way to sneak out of the house without Martin catching her?  It all plays out during a rain storm with thunder and lightening and when it does there is a frantic scene that really is a proper climax.

  I like this film well enough, some mystery about the killer a cop in pursuit it all adds up to an entertaining story. We finally get the story of who the killer is and how a chemical spill underwater deformed him and drove him mad. The ending is a bit disappointing but overall this is a well crafted film. I watched it on DVD in a print that was less than perfect from Netflix but very view-able. SO they never brought back the red herring of the club manager and his daughter was never really developed other than to show that Eric is an absolutely horrible neglectful father.

Things:

Written and directed by Dick Maas he is known for Prey (2016) and one of my favorite Christmas horror movies Sint (2010).
I learned in the commentary that they did not actually light the scenes on the canals but waited until dusk to get the blue light effects.

Spitting in a cops face, is something you don't see too often.

Kills, one hooker, two environmentalists, one salvation army worker, and old man on his boat, a river cop so the body count is pretty low.

From Wikipedia "At the American Film Market in 1988, the movie would go on to become the third highest selling motion picture that year. Vestron Pictures released the film dubbed in English on home video. The dubbed version featured the voices of lead actors Huub Stapel, Monique van de Ven, and Serge-Henri Valcke in English, as they speak English quite well. The film was given a limited release, grossing $14,819 on 5 screens in its opening weekend in North America, and a total of $98,003 over its entire run"