I’d like to start to shine a spotlight on some of the excellent cinema that hails from countries other than the USA and UK, old and new. Not to say that foreign cinema is ignored, but with the amount of content available now through streaming services, it’s easy to miss those little nuggets of gold that are well worth a watch.
Such a movie is Amsterdamned. This Dutch production from 1988 is a cross between thriller and 80s slasher, with a touch of action movie thrown in, using Amsterdam as its backdrop to tell a dark and twisty serial killer tale.
We start with the point of view of something emerging from the canal, stealthily entering the kitchen of a restaurant, and departing with a large knife. Pretty soon a prostitute, who’s already having a bad night, becomes our killers first victim, knifed repeatedly and hung from a bridge to be discovered by a boat full of tourists the next day.
Here enters our protagonist. Police Detective Eric Visser (Huub Stapel) is a single father raising a teenage daughter, and we get a small glimpse of their relationship before Eric gets the call to investigate the murder.
Pretty soon the body count rises, and with the help of his team and a police diver, who is an old friend/love rival of Eric’s, he learns what we already know. Our scuba diving killer is using the canals to get around and stealthily disappear after dispatching random members of the public. Here the story borders on cliché a little, as the mayor demands results, fearing that Amsterdam’s tourism will be hit by bad publicity, and wanting the police commissioner to remove Eric from the case. But Eric soldiers on, and along the way meets Laura (Monique van de Ven), an artist who not only serves as an important figure in solving the case, but also as a romantic interest.
The real star of the movie is Amsterdam itself, and Writer/Director Dick Maas makes excellent use of the murky canals and gloomy back streets to create an uncomfortable atmosphere as our killer stalks his victims. The kills are straight out of the slasher handbook, with a couple of men taking water samples from the canal having a particularly bad night, and a young woman in a rubber dingy meeting the sort of end that Jason Vorhees would be proud of. Having said that, most of the kills aren’t particularly visceral and most of the gore, what there is of it, is shown in the aftermath of the kills.
There are a couple of good set pieces, like a car and motorcycle chase and, the highlight of the movie, a speedboat chase through the canals, with tight turns, jumps and explosions. This sequence alone makes it well worth the watch.
Huub Stapel delivers as Visser, juggling the roles of a grizzled detective determined to catch a killer with that of a caring father, and providing a dark vain of humour throughout. There are enough red herrings to keep the plot interesting, although some may feel let down by the ending as the reveal of the killer and their back story feel a little rushed. Visually, the film looks great, with excellent cinematography by Marc Felperlaan, who makes the city look both beautiful and menacing.
This is very much an eighties movie, made apparent by the score and the dialogue, although much can be lost in translation. I would recommend the subtitled version if you’re going to have a watch, as the English dubbed version can at times be a little clumsy and pull you out of the story.
Amsterdamned is by no means a masterpiece, but it is a fun, thrill filled ride, and is well worth seeking out if you’re a fan of eighties slashers or just a good thriller.
For me, the most intriguing thing is that, come the end of this year, after 37 years, we will be getting a sequel. Amsterdamned 2 is due for release in December, with Writer/Director Dick Mass returning along with some of the original cast, including Huub Stapel. I can only hope it gets a good release here, or at the very least will be easily available on one of the many streaming platforms. I look forward to more canal based carnage.
