Saint Nick (2010)
directed: Dick Maas
starring: Egbert Jan Weeber, Bert Luppes, Caro Lenssen, Huub Stapel, Escha Tanihatu, Jim Deddes Format: NTSC Region 1 Personal Collection
Wow what a gem! Had it not been for the so-so cliche' ending and a silly effect I could have thrown a rating of 4 out of five but all in all I loved this movie and am ashamed it took me this long to watch it. Especially since I've owned it for over a year now. Good ol' Saint Nick many moons ago came to Amsterdam with his minions and murdered some the town folk in a gory spree of mayhem. But soon the murdering bishop is captured and burned alive by the townspeople who remain. Of course he rises from the grave years later to take his revenge and we have a perfect set up for our Christmas time creature feature.
The fx in this movie were mostly pretty outstanding in my opinion. The right amount of cgi mixed with the latex and prosthetics I very much enjoy. Nothing ruins a horror film for me faster than bad cgi and in this we had only one crappy effect that was just too much for me to accept. It's the ending effect using a speed boat full of explosives to blow up Saint Nick's pirate ship looking sea vessel. When you see it you'll know exactly what I mean. It didn't ruin the film for me but I can't believe they just went ahead and used that despicable scene after all the great fx I saw up until that point. I mean you have Saint Nick on horseback jumping from roof top to roof top, slicing up victims left and right, his black peter zombies hacking everyone up and some pretty neat looking car chase scenes. Saint Nick himself (Huub Stapel) was terrifying, loved the fx there.
The movie follows a young group of kids and a rogue police officer named Goert Hoekstra from Amsterdam as they both hunt and are hunted by the elusive Saint Nick as he slays his way through town. Goert (Bert Luppes) is totally obsessed with the idea that Saint Nicholas is out to kill everyone on the date of December the fifth under a full moon and of course none of his fellow police officers believe him or the kids whom are attacked by both Saint Nick and his black peter minions. Goert is finally suspended and goes off on his own to destroy the murdering santa. Goert teams up with Frank (Weeber) who is being chased by the police for murders he did not commit and the two head off together to put an end to the Saint once and for all.
This movie was a lot of fun for me I love cheesy monster thrill rides and this was no bad experience. The gore, the monsters, most of the fx were outstanding for a film of it's caliber. I found the dialogue very believable and again for a film of this caliber that's a good thing. I have owned the movie for almost two years and I'm really kicking myself for not watching it sooner. The scenes of St. Nick riding his horse over the roof tops were truly spectacular and I can't wait to see it next year.
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