- AKA “Sint”
- Directed by Dick Maas
- Written by Dick Maas
- Stars Egbert Jan Weeber, Bert Luppes, Caro Lenssen, Huub Stapel
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYCBKgzuNak
Spoiler-Free Judgement Zone
“Your parents only told you he doesn’t exist…”
Sinter Claus/Saint Nick attacks Amsterdam, which happens every 32 years on the full moon. Only one man remembers that last time he came, and he wants to do something about it. Only no one else believes anymore.
We liked it; it’s fun and a little exotic as well.
Synopsis
1492 AD
A bishop, dressed in red, rides a horse into town, surrounded by an entourage. The villagers pull their children inside and hide. His men raid the village, crawling down chimneys and eating their food. They place a note on the door of things they want delivered before the next full moon: gold, meat, treats, and servants. They take away a child in a sack as well.
The peasants are, as always, revolting, so they turn on the bandits. They kill the guards and torch the bishop’s ship. They watch him howl at the moon as he and the ship burn.
December 5th, 1968 AD
Children watch a TV show about Saint Nicholas. The father yells at young Goert to go out and check on the pigs. The pigs are spooked, and Goert talks to calm them down. Meanwhile in the house, the fire goes out and the children are sucked up the chimney. Something jumps up and gets the father. Goert watches as Saint Nick, on his horse, flies off the roof and leaves the scene. Inside, Goert finds his family.
Amsterdam, Present Day
In class, it’s St. Nick Eve day. Six of the girls get dildos as gifts. Frank opens his box to find a box of junk returned by his ex-girlfriend Sophie. His girlfriend talks about how he cheated on her. Of course, she was cheating on him as well. There’s a full moon tonight, which only happens on the holiday every 32 years. That’s when St. Nicholas is out to get you. Laura’s dad is with the police, and he has stories!
Grown-up Detective Goert walks into the police station, sees a gift on his desk and shoots it, destroying the four bottles of wine inside. His colleagues know about his anti-Christmas obsession, and it’s all a joke to them. His boss, Chief of Detectives, is not amused suggesting that Goert needs to get therapy. It’s been 32 years since his parents were killed, and he wants to cancel everything. “December the 5th will never be the same if we do nothing!” He yells.
Night falls and the fog rolls in. The harbor patrol smells something burning. There’s a large boat on radar heading straight toward them, and BOOM! No more harbor patrol.
Frank talks to Lisa on the phone and then goes out to play St. Nicholas. Goert tells the bartender that St. Nick is coming back for revenge tonight. Funny, but no one believes him.
Sophie is at home babysitting and decides to light a fire in the fireplace. Her little brother yells that something is on the roof. She explains to him that St. Nicholas and Black Peter don’t exist. Sophie’s fire goes out and the screaming starts. Lisa was on the phone with her and runs to her house to see what was the matter. She finds her body hanging upside-down in the chimney.
Frank and his friends in blackface, dressed as Saint Nick and Black Petes, have to stop for a pee and they run into the real Saint Nick and his real helpers. Frank kills several of them, mostly by accident, and then drives away. He’s almost immediately arrested for Sophie’s murder.
Lisa sticks up for Frank, saying he would never have killed Sophie. The investigator tells the facts to the chief of detectives, the same guy Goert had been talking to about Saint Nicholas. The Chief wants Goert brought in— quietly; he’s a suspect now.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, the nurse checks out the children’s ward. The children are asleep, all snug in their beds as dark shapes skulk around the corridors. The power goes out, and Saint Nicholas arrives. Bad things happen.
The police pursue Nick, riding on a horse across the rooftops. One of the cops shoots Santa’s horse, which then falls on top of the police car. Frank gets out of the car and watches as the horse comes back to life and walks away after crushing the policemen in the car. Goert comes after Nick with a flamethrower, and Nick rides away.
Goert explains that last, time, the government covered up the hundreds of murders, but he knows the truth. Goert and Frank team up. The Chief of Detectives and the mayor are already trying to keep it all quiet. Goert wants to blow up St. Nicholas’s boat, which will remove the curse. Frank calls Lisa and warns her to stay inside.
Frank and Goert are picked up by a police boat, who find their explosives. They head towards the old harbor, which is where Goert was going in he first place. They pick up St. Nick’s boat on the radar. They hear the crying children on board the other ship.
Soon, it’s a battle between the police and the Black Peters, and the police mostly lose. Soon, it’s just Goert and Frank against the servants of the evil bishop. Goert gets the detonator ready; they’ve got five minutes until midnight, when they can destroy the ship and end this mess. He shows Frank what to do and then Goert dies from his wounds.
Frank launches the boar and gets ready to explode the bomb when the police alive. They all watch the Black Peters reboard the ship— except for the ones who attack the SWAT team. More fighting commences. Saint Nicholas himself arrives just as Frank blows up their boat. The Black Peters all fall over dead, but Nick rides away.
The Chief tells the mayor that around 300 people died; that’s worse than the previous time. They’ll try really hard to cover it all up. They pin a lot of the murders on Goert. The chief’s goon visits Frank in the hospital and offers him money from the mayor to stay quiet. And all expenses paid for medical treatment for his ailing mother. Lisa comes in, and Frank says he’ll tell her all about what happens… in 32 years.
Commentary
In Amsterdam, the big Christmas holiday, Saint Nicholas Eve is on December 5th and the 6th is Saint Nicholas’s Name Day. Half the fun of a film like this is seeing how differently they treat the holidays there.
It’s really neat. I don’t know much about the St. Nicholas story from the Netherlands and Northern Europe, but it sounds a lot scarier than Santa Claus. This is well done; Nick has cool makeup and the visuals are fun as well. The CGI with the horse isn’t great, but it works for a laugh or two.
This one is definitely worth seeing if you can keep up with the very wordy subtitles.