Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Every early December, children throughout parts of Northern Europe are seen leaving their shoes out overnight along with carrots and hay. This can only mean one thing — Sint is coming to town. Other normal customs to mark the anticipated event include writing poems and exchanging chocolate letters, but nothing about Dick Maas’ Sinterklaas-themed movie Sint (Saint) can be considered normal. The radical filmmaker instead commemorates the occasion with spilled blood as well as contests the saintliness of this holiday’s namesake.
For those new to Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicholas Day, the cherished festivity is held annually in the Netherlands. Other Europeans also observe but not quite on the same level as the Dutch. According to lore, a bearded old man in red, referred to as Sinterklaas, Sint-Nicolaas or simply Sint, voyages from Spain to give children presents on the eve of December 5th (Sinterklaasavond). He is joined by the Zwarte Pieten — Sint’s controversial helpers also known as the Black Petes — and a white steed. Kids leave out their shoes so they can receive gifts, and the carrots and hay are for the horse. By now, the neophytes might be thinking Sinterklaas’ frontman and Santa Claus are one and the same. The more secular Santa is in fact derived from Sint, who is then based on a historical figure, Saint Nicholas of Myra.
Sint is typically depicted as a benevolent character. Yet as the villain in a Maas dark comedy, the patron saint of children is treated to an extreme makeover. The fabricated truth comes out whenever the holiday coincides with a full moon. The tutelary figure, really a cruel and renegade bishop named Niklas (Huub Stapel), makes a rare appearance in Amsterdam and causes mayhem right under everyone’s noses. Everyone except Frank (Egbert Jan Weeber), a luckless high schooler caught in the crossfire, and the troubled detective (Bert Luppes) who narrowly escaped the killer ‘klaas as a child.
Anyone acquainted with the Maas-ter of Nether-Horror is aware of the thin plots in his oddball oeuvre. Sint is no different as it comes and goes with only a passable patchwork of familiar ideas to keep things moving. From a babysitter getting ambushed in her home to an army of the dead rolling in with the fog, there is at least some vintage John Carpentry going on here. However, switching a lethal Santa out with a demoniac rebranding of a beloved European entity like Sint adds uniqueness. A holiday figure going on a murder spree is nothing new in the horror genre, but a homicidal Sint hellbent on revealing his own wickedness to the public and shattering long-held beliefs is more novel than not.
Back in the ‘80s, Christmas horror pioneer Silent Night, Deadly Night achieved cinematic infamy after its release was vocally protested. Sint experienced a similar situation when Maas was sued over the film’s posters; concerned parents thought children would be scared of the sinister Sint. The court ultimately ruled in Maas’ favor. Although the hoopla over Charles Edward Sellier Jr’s movie only stoked others’ interest, parents’ anxiety toward Sint feels understandable now knowing the titular character descends upon thirty-five hospitalized kids at one point in the movie. Their imminent deaths take place off screen while the adults endure more graphic and unambiguous demises. Gore fiends should be sated by plentiful impalements and beheadings. Maas piques the audience’s morbid curiosity and cuts away before the kiddos come to nothing. The imagination fills in the blanks. Regardless, this decision seems out of character, but even an auteur who challenges decorum and esteems dark humor has his limits (imposed or otherwise).
As to be expected in a Maas’ production, the visuals do the heavy lifting in Sint. The director waives Christmas iconography to keep the movie strictly about Sinterklaas. A clean but drab aesthetic ushers in doom and gloom. The festive décor so common in American Christmas movies is absent as Sint shows a more modest-looking December in Amsterdam. The snowy city makes for both a great backdrop and a vital battleground. Niklas targeting victims on nearly empty streets seems bizarre in a city normally so bustling, yet it also captures that lonelier side of the holidays.
When asked if Sint satirizes traditions and religion, Maas said Catholicism needed “a big spanking” and the Pope is “one of the greatest villains” today. It comes as no surprise that his opinions are not too popular with conservatives, even though his singular brand of weirdness has wide appeal. What should be an irreverent horror-comedy is indeed a swipe at those in power everywhere. The government in Sint does what so many others like it have always done; it hides the truth. The people in charge wrap a bow around something unpleasant until the time comes to do it again. Their dishonesty is less about protecting the public and more to do with avoiding accountability. A deeper read of the cover-up — in particular a bishop doing harm to thirty-five kids — reveals Maas’ feelings about specific scandals within the Catholic Church.
Critics have knocked Sint for not living up to its fullest potential. There is some truth to that sentiment, seeing as the movie loses its footing near the end. Knowing that, this is one of Maas’ more ambitious movies. And that is saying a lot considering how much he generally refuses to color within the lines or play nice. This fearless Dutchman always has a lot to say, but his thoughts about Sinterklaas especially have more weight than usual.
