It’s a full moon and the Saint is coming…

Starring Egbert Jan Weeber, Bert Luppes, Caro Lenssen, Huub Stapel, Escha Tanihatu and Jim Deddes. Written and directed by Dick Maas for Parachute Pictures.

Known as SINT in the Netherlands and SAINT NICK in the USA, this Dutch dark horror comedy features Netherlands’ version of Santa Claus (known as Sinterklaas) as a monstrous, lipless killer.

The plot concerns the former bishop Niklas (Stapel) going on a killing spree in Amsterdam whenever there is a full moon on December 5th. He is aided by his army of burnt-faced zombie helpers, the Black Peters (Zwarte Piet in Dutch).

This is an enjoyable Dutch film which features festive traditions that non-Dutch viewers might find odd. For instance, some people (though the custom has become much criticised now) celebrate this period of the year by dressing up as Zwarte Piet, using blackface and Renaissance-style clothes!

There’s a great sequence in SAINT where Niklas rides over the Amsterdam rooftops on his undead horse as he is chased by cops, ending with him and his steed crashing downwards through a building, onto the street below.

There are also lots of over the top, fun gore effects to look out for, including arms and heads getting sliced off, loads of impalements, folks being run over and a victim getting chopped in two!

Bullets don’t harm the Saint, by the way, but Niklas certainly doesn’t like flamethrowers!

From the director of the murderous-bio-tech-elevator movie THE LIFT (1983), the serial-killer-lurking-in-Amsterdam’s-canals flick AMSTERDAMNED (1988), and the man-eating-lion-terrorising-Holland’s-capital-city creature feature PREY (2016), this Dick Maas horror film is an enjoyable, bloody, surprisingly well-made flick.

Finally, here’s a behind the scenes shot of the rooftop chase being filmed…