Saint Nick

The predictable action-thriller elements are all in place, from coke-sniffing, machine-gun-toting thugs to monotonous narrow escapes. The look is stylish, sound is above average, and the acting only as good as it has to be.

Saint is a really well done holiday horror set in Amsterdam about an undead "saint" named Nicholas and his undead minions called Black Pete's. This is all part of the folklore of the region and it was fun to see a "Christmas" horror movie that wasnt some wacko dressed as Santa or the Krampus. There are some similarities, as Saint Nick is a nearly unstoppable monster with minions who abducts children. The mythology behind it all was pretty cool as well as the fact that the government is well aware that this monster is going to come and visit every 23 years or so. Efforts are made to contain the damage and to cover up the aftermath while most people have no idea of the danger that a full moon on November 5th is bringing with it.The acting is good, the action is exciting, the cinematography is great and the special effects are quite nice. I felt like the end was a little abrupt and the resolution could have been better but the film delivers with some great setups and scenes a quick pace and good direction. This version is dubbed but hopefully I can watch it in the original language sometime as I think that will make it even better.

'Saint' is one of the best Christmas horror movies that has come out in recent years. It explores the Dutch folklore about St. Nick and his demon helpers (i.e. Black Petes) as they plunder, pillage, and kill on December 5th if there is a full moon. I really liked that there was humor mixed in with the horror elements. I would definitely recommend this movie if you liked 'Krampus' (2015). They would make a great double feature for your holiday viewing entertainment!

Watched the movie like it, however, didn't know it wasn't in English.

First time I saw this I laughed so hard so when I saw it this holiday 2020 I had to buy it to add to my horror holiday collection! Tried and true ... specifically a gore fest from start to finished that plays upon the holiday legend in Europe. This isn't the best horror has to offer but it's a holiday twist that is sure to entertain during all those kissy-kissy festive cheers everywhere during the Christmas season.

foreign-made horror, gore, violence, etc.

Really good movie- they did a pretty good job matching the English dubbing to the actors mouth movements, which is usually distracting to me. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a spooky Christmas holiday movie.

Every year i like to get a horror movie about Christmas and this movie i picked up with Rare Exports:A Christmas Tale and this movie. I enjoyed this movie alot. I don't want to ruin it for people but the story i thought was original. A serial killer psychopath who was killed under a full moon on hos birthday. Now he comes back every 32 years or something. I thought the scenery was beautiful and i think the acting was well done. The santa character really looks nasty which i like and it is just a gory vile fun christmas horror movie. They dubbed it in english so if you don't want to read the film then watch it dubbed. Great film i highly recommend it to anybody who wants a cool horror film or holiday film. You wont be disappointed.

The year is 1492, December the 5th and it's a full moon.. St Niklas raids towns and murders his way through the adults, while kidnapping the village children with the help of his Black Peters (pirate slaves). Presumably from there he eats the children, or sells them into slavery, or something.. But either way the community have had enough, so they burn up his slave-ship along with Nik who's on board, which is the end of him. . . Merry Christmas one and all.The Year is now 1968, December the 5th and it's another full moon (they don't come around very often).. Everyone is enjoying Christmas and nobody is afraid, the image of the evil St Niklas having now been altered and become a symbol of happy tradition. Turkey butties all round etc.. But wait, because now it's Nik's turn to get cross, really cross, in fact the kind of really super cross that you can only get if you've been an undead psycho, spinning in your grave at everyone's yuletide happiness for the last 476years!Meanwhile young Goert is out checking on his noisy pigs, when he sees a form 'Hi Ho Silvering' off his rooftop, wherein Goert returns indoors to discover his family have been massacred, his siblings stolen.!!The year is now, December the 4th and once again a full moon is predicted for the next evening.. Nobody believes in Saint Niklas any more, except that is for a lone, neurotic cop called Goert. Niklas maybe about to rear his evil zombie head again, but this time Goert intends to stop him from attacking Amsterdam, whether his superiors think he's crazy or not....Dutch comedy horror, in which an zombie-psycho bishop comes back from the dead with his army of Black Peters, where he proceeds to slaughter adults, Ho Ho Silver his way across the rooftops and harvest the children of Amsterdam.Quite self referential in it's humour, with director Dick Maas no stranger to the slasher genre having wrote and helmed The Lift ('83) (a film about a killer lift!), and of course the excellent scuba-slasher Amsterdamned in 1988.Never takes itself too seriously, zero nudity (shame, there are some hot Dutch fitties in here!), plenty of silly gore. Sort of like Dead Snow ('09), The Fog ('80) and Amando de Ossorio's 'Blind Dead' series all rolled into one. Except not as good as any of those!Ultimately it's disposable nonsense, not in the slightest bit scary or horrific, but admittedly entertaining while it lasts (just short of 80m).If you see it cheap then it's worth a punt but unlikely to be viewed more than a couple of times.Disc is subtitled, with the picture quality you would expect from a relatively new film.3.25/5

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 films 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 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 was disappointing. 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.

I just want to put something straight. This is not Santa Claus.Sint Nikolaas is a Dutch tradition where a man wearing a red saint hat and red robe lined with golden lace gives children gifts. He's aided in this by having lots of Pieten (white men painted as black men in colorful clothing and feathers in their caps) who climb down chimneys to leave gifts in children's shoes. He also has a white horse which he rides on rooftops. He caries a golden staff and has a big book which tells him if you've been good or bad. If you've been bad the Pieten take you away to Spain in a sack. (Legend has it he lives in Spain and only comes over to give away gifts on his own birthday). Then on the 5th of December it's pakjesavond (meaning gifts night) when everybody gets gifts from Sinterklaas (as he's more commonly known). It's very similar to Santa Clause, but not quite. Dutch children love December because they always get loads of gifts at the beginning and at the end of the month.So much for the legend what about the film?I love the film. Finally a worth wile Dutch slasher movie after Amsterdamned.There are funny moments, scary moments and blood curling moments. But never over the top.Story is that a murderous Sinterklaas comes around every time there is a full moon on December 5th. Which is every couple of decades (there's a little mistake in the film calling out two different time frames, but nothing very irritating).Good views of Amsterdam at night and generally well done (CGI was of good quality too). I recommend this movie if you like the genre. It's in Dutch with English subtitles but that's never bothered me when it was the other way around.I remember all the fuss when the movie came out. Parents thought the posters of the skull faced Sinterklaas hanging on billboards everywhere was way too scary for the children and tried to get them banned. I think it only made more people wanting to see the movie.

To be honest, the 18 certificate is a bit harsh for this seasonal slasher. The violence is so OTT and comic book that it is impossible not to laugh out loud as the body count rises and the few tense moments are possible to spot a mile off.But it is good fun if you want a break from the sugar and spice of the traditional Christmas movie and it a good addition to any collection.

Bits of it are brilliant (the roof chase scene) but overall it's average. The characters are boring but its really fast paced and has decent CGI to make up for the 1 dimensional characters. The concept is cool and it was interesting to see the Christmas traditions of the Dutch :P Worth a watch for horror fans at Christmas, cause there's not enough Christmas horrors out there.