Saint [DVD]

5th December 1492, a former bishop named Niklas leads his gang into a village where they slaughter half of the population. The remaining villagers decide they've had enough of Niklas and his gang, so they row out to their ship and set it on fire, killing everyone on board. 5th December 1968, four children are singing by the fireplace when their father hears a noise outside. He sends his oldest son called Goert out to go check on the pigs, when he returns from the barn, he spots a figure walking across their roof and a man on a horse carrying a staff. He enters his house and discovers a bloodbath, and his younger siblings have gone. Amsterdam, present day. The tales told of Niklas and his gang have now come to be believed as nothing but a fairytale that people tell to their children, he's now known at Sinterklaas. Goert is now a police officer and is convinced that the full moon on December 5th will signal the return of Niklas and his gang, his belief in this happening lands him in trouble with his superior and he's put on leave for the rest of December. Just as Goert predicted, Niklas returns and they begin to slaughter the citizens of Amsterdam. A student called Frank survives an attack and eventually bumps into Goert, and the two of them try and put an end to the curse once and for all.

Unlike most American horror films that have really unlikeable "teenagers" playing major roles, the young characters in Saint are reasonably likeable. Even though they're young and attractive, there's no blinding white teeth, washboard abs and silicone breasts, you can actually relate to these kids. Frank is played quite well by Egbert Jan Weeber, if the film has a main star then he's probably it. He was in his late twenties when he made Saint, I didn't find it at all distracting as I love '80s slasher's where people in their twenties regularly played teenagers. Bert Luppes is good as Goert, there's a hilarious scene near the beginning of the film where he enters the police station, spots a wrapped up box on his table and proceeds to shoot it five times. I know he's worried about Niklas coming back to continue the murder spree, but it's safe to assume he's not in the box. Caro Lenssen plays Frank's love interest, she's very pretty and puts in a good performance, she was also in her mid twenties. Huub Stapel is okay as Niklas, he just doesn't really get that much to do and I felt he was slightly wasted in the role. It was nice to see him though, as he's appeared in most of Dick Maas' Dutch films, most notably in Amsterdamned and the Flodder films. Saint was a welcome return to horror for Dick Maas, a genre he had success with in the '80s with De Lift and Amsterdamned. He finally came to America and made two movies, Do Not Disturb and a remake of his own film De Lift called Down. I thought they were both okay, but they weren't very successful and he eventually returned to Holland. I thought Saint was by far his best film since Amsterdamned in '88, and it seems that he's another director who seems to make far better films back home than in America. The makeup effects on Niklas and his gang are well done, like another reviewer pointed out, they're very similar to the pirates in John Carpenter's The Fog. There's quite a few good gore moments, but nothing that really stands out. There's a good rooftop chase sequence with Niklas leaping from roof to roof on his horse, despite the CGI being a little too obvious here and there. Dick Maas also provides the music for the film as he always does, it sets the tone quite nicely.

The dvd's picture quality is very good, it's quite sharp and detailed. It's a Dutch film so it has English subtitles. Sadly there are no extras on the disc at all, there's just the film itself and scene selection which is disappointing in such a new film. I was having a little trouble deciding whether to give the film three stars or four, the complete lack of extras pretty much made my mind up. Saint is exactly what I expected it to be, a festive horror film with black comedy running through it. If you've seen any of Dick Maas' other horror/thrillers you'll find they all have comedy in them. Saint certainly isn't a great film, it isn't even Dick Maas' best film, but it is an extremely enjoyable, often funny, sometimes gory, '80s throwback that works a lot better than the similar US film Santa's Slay. I really did enjoy Saint, and with a runtime of just over 80 minutes, it never gets boring. If there's a Dick Maas film you should watch, you should really go for the excellent Amsterdamned, but Saint is just about the next best.

Every 42 years on December 5th, when the moon is full, evil Saint Nicholas reeks havoc on the good people of Holland.

Saint is a short and snappy throwback to lighthearted fun 8Os teen horror. It's also fairly obviously a homage to John Carpenter. The ghostly ship and its rotting crew are drawn strait from The Fog. Whilst the significant date idea and the High School cast of twenty-somethings posing as teenagers echo Halloween. I liked the scenes of saint Nick storming across the Dutch rooftops on his white horse and those of his oversized "elves" clambering down chimneys to stuff children into sacks. There's some pretty good gore, one or two jump scares and, unlike is the case with a lot of recent US attempts at this kind of thing, the youngster are mostly likable. Huub Stapel (Amsterdamned) plays the right jolly old elf with genuine relish.

I thought Saint was fairly good and got the tone just about right. Neither falling into the trap of going for out and out comedy or taking itself too seriously. It's certainly a lot better than the similarly themed Santa's Slay.
I just wish the DVD had the option of a dubbed version, because subtitles seem a little to serious for what in the end is a film about a homicidal decomposing Santa

I bought this film with an open mind not knowing what to expect, I thouroughly enjoyed it providing you switch your brain off. Firstly it is a dutch film with english subtitles ( But don't let that put you off) By the way In Holland they call him St Nicholas and not Santa Claus.The story goes St nicholas is killed many centuries ago on the 5th December.HE thenresurects his murderous ways whenever a full moon rises on December the 5th, we then go forward to modern day Amsterdam 5 December and old St Nic is gonna come for you , and you better watch out,there our plenty of jump out your seat moments and a fair bit of gore, but not over the top,It was always snowing which added to th festive spirt's. I don;t want to give much of the plot away suffice to say I think the director was showing a few nods to John carpenters THE FOG, think mist old ships & feceless demons & spoooky canals in Amsterdam. There are some quite good CGI shots of St Nic on his horse & Scath on his murderous rampage over the rooftops of Amsterdam. This film won't win any awards but if you are looking for a good ole scary xmas film somthing different than white xmas or scrooge go and buyit. Next time i watch this will be December the 5th with one eye on the roof oh and if you have a real fire place be carefull that aint santa coming down you have been warned!!!!