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"

Saint (2010) Horror Christmas

Saint (2010) - original title "Sint"  "Your Parents have told you that he doesn't exist" Maybe something was lost in the translation but I thought they told us he does exist. Of course thatg is the happy Santa here in USA. This Movie's Christmas gift giver has a whole different scene over in Amsterdam and giving gifts ain't it. The legend as seen through the first scenes is that Saint Niklas is the head of a band of pirates. We see their ship in the harbor near a small village. He riding his horse and carrying his crosier he leads his men into the village, Amsterdam 1492. The people of the village have left out goods for him to collect but he is there for more than provisions. His men slide down chimneys of locked houses and knock in door. They pillage and kill and most of all steal children to take to Spain. I don't know why Spain? its just part of the story. Accept it so we can move on please. In the scene we are watching the villages rise up and fight back. They set the ship on fire and it seems that the bishop and his men perish. Still they didn't get the kids off the boat so...hmm. The curse that now comes from this has to do with the date of the uprising. It is said on any December 5th that falls on the full moon brings back Saint Niklas (Huub Stapel) and he and his men (called"Black Peters" because of the soot from sliding down chimneys) takes his revenge on Amsterdam.
  Its December 5th 1968 and its a full moon. Four kids stand around their wooden shoes by the stove chanting a Saint Nick poem. Mom and Dad are busily preparing for Christmas and it is a very nice scene. The pigs out in the barn are making a lot of noise though so Dad send the oldest boy Goert (Neils van den Berg) out to check on them. On his way back he see old Saint Nick on his horse and on his roof, unfortunately for Goert his whole family has been murdered. I am normally put off by two establishing time periods in a row but here it works, the first showing the antagonist and establishing the revenge curse. The second establishing the trauma of the protagonist setting up his motivation for the modern day story.
  Our Main characters are Frank (Egbert Jan Weeber) and Lisa (Caro Lenssen)are in the same class in high school. Permissive sexual attitudes are on display when the secret Santa gift giving includes many dildos. Boy I guess things have changed since I was in high school. Poor Frank get his gift a Dear John letter from his now former girlfriend Sophie (Escha Tanihati) who kicks him to the curb with a poem and a box full of his things. Some things apparently never change.  It appears that Frank had sex with another girl and Sophie found out. Little does she and her friend Natasha (Madelief Blanken) know that Lisa is the girl Frank cheated with. The three are friends and their dialog is very interesting as they walk home after class. This background is to establish that Frank and Lisa are in "Like" and there is an interest between the two. Also a conversation about it being December 5th and a full moon lets the characters do a modern retelling of the legend of Saint Niklas. The other character development is to bring us back in touch with Goert (Bert Luppes) who is a cop for the Amsterdam Police department. This is the first December 5th full moon since his family was slaughtered and he is trying to convince a strangely reluctant police chief to do more to protect the city. Goert has prepared a detailed report of what to expect but it is apparent from the reactions of the other cops that no one takes him seriously.
  We come back to Sophie who is an unwed Mother? (Maybe it could be a little brother?) We see that although an atheist she is not safe from harm from the Saint. In an effective scary scene we start off the movie proper. It is a shame that she has to die too soon.
  With the players in place all we have to do is wait for sundown and the arrival of the esteemed Saint. Frank who is dressed as he for the Christmas celebrations heads our with his black face painted friends for a night on the town. The party they are supposed to get to seems impossible to find even with a GPS. A bit of commentary on the endless nature of construction of Amsterdam's streets leads them to an encounter with the real Saint Nick. It is a good thing about this film, there is a tongue and cheat social commentary running through the film that is interesting and effective. Light and on the fringes it does not beat you over the head but it is present throughout.
  The run in with Saint Nick and his boys highlights another important part of the film, it is not afraid to use gore. Both of Franks friends are killed in this encounter and Frank while escaping some some pretty gruesome damage to the Black Peters. These effects are great including cutting one in half at the waste. As he drives away from the bad guys he is surrounded by cops responding to the ruckus and since the arm of a pirate is still attached to the door of his car, and he is wearing a Saint Niklas outfit he is mistaken for the killer and arrested. Complicating his plight is that Sophie is dead and little Timmy missing and since she so publicly broke up with him that very day he really looks rather guilty.
  All of this action and scary fun is mixed with the story of Goert as he tries to kill the immortal Saint. His story arc that intersects with Frank is to blow the bastard up on his ship ending the plague of deaths. This is no easy task though and before the end there is some scary scenes and action to be had. The best bit is Saint Nick showing up at a pediatric ward of a hospital. The kids react with such excitement before the terror sets in. It is a nice scene and one of the failings of the film is that there was not more of that. The scares that are in the film are great and I found myself wanting more of them. Instead we get a giant CGI set piece of the cops chasing Saint Nick as they speed through the streets of Amsterdam he rides across the rooftops of the city. When he finally comes crashing down, oh I loved the twitching arm it ends up just a way to bring Frank and Goert together and set up the climax sequence.
  Mixed in with the action are these little bits about the city government. The first thing I thought watching it was if the Saint and his men came back every December 5th when the moon is full that boy that's a lot of killing over time. Since the first time the event happened was 1492 it leaves a lot of dates that could be visiting days. How does nobody know this is happening. How many full moon December 5ths have there been in that time period? I could not let that go so I investigated so and was disappointed to find out that the dates used in the movie were not full moon dates. Since they were establishing characters I get why but still. Recent Dec. 5th dates with a full moon wwere in 1949, 1987, and 2006. The next two though are pretty far out in 2063 and then 2082. Enough of this side track though, even with the dates used in the movie there is no way that December 5th body counts would have gone unnoticed. Lucky for us writer / director Dick Maas explains it as a cover up.
  The final plan to do away with Nick is also not particularly well thought out by the characters. It is a decent idea but the line establishing the destruction of the ship Niklas arrives in and his death are not really established. So even when the climax happens you are left wondering, at least for a bit, if it will do the trick. Set up for a sequel in 2063 I am looking forward to seeing.
  I really enjoyed the film it had humor and at times was scary, decent action pieces although some of the CGI was a bit suspect. When all is said and done this was a fun Christmas movie to watch.
Rating (6.5) 5.0 and up are recommended, some more recommended than others.