Sint

Posted May 25, 2012 by Speed - 0 comments

December 5, 1492. The bishop Niklas is roaming the streets of Amsterdam with his men, kidnapping children all around. His actions finally get the local people angry enough to make them attack his ship and burn it completely.

December 5, 1968. Goert and his family are preparing for “Sinterklaas”, the annual fest whereby the birthday of Saint Nicholas is celebrated. Things don’t go as expected, though, as Goert finds his entire family slashed to pieces. The local police find a homeless man nearby and blame him for the murder, but Goert knows better. It was the ghost of Niklas who returned and killed everyone.

December 5, current time. It’s 32 years after Goert’s family was slaughtered and Goert has become a police inspector. While on the job, he’s been studying events that have happened on each December 5th when there was a full moon and has found out Niklas on each of these occasions returned to reap havoc and murder. With the evil bishop about to return once again, Goert is ready to stop him once and for all.

Sound and Vision:
For a Dutch production, the image quality is pretty good with decent contrast, plenty of detail and rather natural colors. We didn’t spot any overly obnoxious compression errors eventhough the film isn’t perfect.

The sound works very well with clear dialogues and good use of the surrounds for creating a vibrant atmosphere and effects (especially the horse chase over the rooftops of Amsterdam and the misty scenes on the water stand out with great detail in sound) while the subwoofer does its job nicely, providing the necessary lows.

Extras:
– Making Of

Conclusion:
Dick Maas, who previously brought us the classic horror movie “The Lift” in the early eighties has finally come back to the genre that made him famous. Although not perfect, Sint is a decent horror movie that gives a different spin on the story of the child-loving Saint Nicholas. It’s like a Dutch version of US slasher movies a la Santa Slay where Santa Clause (who’s based on the character of Saint Nicholas) is portrayed as a sadistical murderer.

The gory images, the grotesque image of Saint Nicholas, the over-the-top acting, … it all works surprisingly well. However, beware as you shouldn’t expect this to be a serious movie. Best to turn off your brains and just watch, and you’ll surely enjoy.

Scream 4 Transformers: Dark of the Moon