Exclusives
‘A Horror Film For the Whole Family’: B-D Talks to ‘Saint’ Director Dick Maas
Only a mind as delightfully twisted as Dick Maas’ could turn the good-hearted figure of St. Nicholas (aka Sinterklaas) – the bearded old man whose birthday is celebrated every December 5th in the Netherlands, and who went on to serve as the basis for our own country’s Santa Claus – into a vengeful undead killer. That’s the concept at the crux of Maas’ latest offering Saint (known as Sint in Holland), which premiered last night at the Tribeca Film Festival following an announcement earlier in the day that genre distributor IFC Midnight had acquired the film for North American release.
B-D’s Chris Eggertsen recently had the opportunity to speak with Maas about the film, during which the Dutch director discussed the Silent Night, Deadly Night-style controversy surrounding the film in Holland, why he describes it as “a horror movie for the whole family”, and his dubious feelings regarding offers from American companies to produce an English-language remake.
See inside for the full interview.
Though Dick Maas may be a new name to many of you, the Dutch filmmaker has been working tirelessly in the Netherlands for over 30 years, writing, directing and producing projects in an impressive array of different genres (horror fans may know him best for the 1988 serial-killer flick Amsterdamned). Though he’s previously worked in the American film industry – most notably with the Naomi Watts-starrer Down, an English-language remake of his 1983 techno-horror De Lift – his latest film, the killer-“Sinterklaas” action/slasher hybrid Saint, may well result in his greatest Stateside exposure to date. Currently screening at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and already a blockbuster hit in his native country, the film was recently acquired by indie label IFC Midnight for North American distribution.
Bloody-Disgusting: So, what made you decide to tackle a killer St. Nicholas movie?
Dick Maas: I think [it was] more than ten years ago that I was thinking [of doing] something with St. Nicholas…[he’s] portrayed as the good-hearted man giving presents to all the children. So I was thinking, `what would happen if he was an evil figure?’ So, portray him as a child murderer…that was the starting point. And from there on, I was trying to get a script together. It took me several years to get the script [written]…I just wanted to do something [with] this myth, this well-known myth in Holland, and turn it upside-down.
B-D: Back in the `80s, America had a killer Santa movie called `Silent Night, Deadly Night’, and it caused quite a bit of controversy over the supposed effect it would have on children. And I understand there was quite a bit of uproar in Holland over `Sint’, so I was wondering if you could talk about that a bit.
DM: In Holland and Belgium, the St. Nicholas Society started protesting the movie…[they said] it was bad for children, et cetera. And I thought it was a bit silly, because it’s a movie for the ages of 16 years and older, so children weren’t allowed [into] this movie…it was much ado about nothing. But the most [controversial] thing [was] the poster, before we released the movie [Editor’s Note: the poster depicts the evil, zombified St. Nicholas backlit by the gleaming moon]. People were protesting it…[and] trying to prevent the movie from showing…it caused quite a stir here in Holland. It [generated] a lot of free publicity.
B-D: How did you come up with the look of the evil St. Nicholas?
DM: …Of course I changed several things about his appearance and his clothing. In Holland he’s portrayed as a sort of bishop dressed in red, with a cloak around him…but of course I changed it because [in] the movie, the guy…comes back as a sort of zombie. But he had to keep his appearance, like the real Sinterklaas, so…the clothes he originally wore were burned badly [when he was killed] and we decided to…make him as a sort of scary figure…a sort of warrior look.
B-D: There are quite a few killer Santa movies that have come out in the States in the past, and I’m wondering if you’re familiar with any of these films.
DM: Yeah, I know, of course, about several English films…that portray Santa Claus as the bad guy. I haven’t seen all of them, I’ve maybe seen one or two. I think I saw `Silent Night, Deadly Night’, and I saw `Santa’s Slay’. I saw all that after I already wrote the script…the script was written five or six years ago, and I saw those films after that. I of course knew that they were being made in the States, and I always wondered why nobody did something with St. Nicholas. So I thought I would be the one to make that movie.
B-D: Your film definitely seems like an action movie as much as it’s a slasher film.
DM: Yeah, I wouldn’t call it…people who are thinking this is an all-out slasher with a lot of gore, and very horror[-oriented], I think they will be disappointed. There’s a lot of action in it, there’s a lot of humor in it, there’s some great action set pieces, like a chase over the rooftops…so I always call it a movie that’s sort of a horror movie for the whole family. I mean, children from the age of 12 I think can enjoy it. Of course there are some…decapitations, and there are limbs chopped off. But it’s not in a sort of gruesome way like you have in a real slasher movie…
B-D: Is there a satirical element in the film as well regarding the holiday?
DM: Of course, it’s different for an American audience to get all the small details of…[but] it’s not a satire or something. I wanted to play a straight movie that had a sort of epic feel to it. But it’s not a satire of any kind…there are a lot of small things that are attached to this St. Nicholas celebration that I turn around or I play with.
For instance, when St. Nicholas…normally he throws presents [in] the chimney for the children, and I turn it around. In my film, St. Nicholas [is] not giving presents, he wants presents…and he makes a list of what he wants…[and] in the [St. Nicholas] celebration children make a list of the presents they want.
So there are several of those small things…[that will be lost on] an audience that doesn’t know anything about the celebration…[but] the basic ingredients of the movie, that there’s a good guy and a bad guy…that’s a main theme in a lot of [American] horror movies. And in the movie there is some explanation of what the celebration is about in Holland. But I don’t explain everything…it’s just enough that people can enjoy the movie, I think.
B-D: What’s St. Nicholas’ signature weapon? Obviously Freddy Krueger has the claw, Michael Myers has the butcher knife, etc…
DM: Yeah, he has a…staff, you call it, the thing in his hand…I don’t know how you call it in English…it’s a metal, shiny, golden shiny stick with…I put sharp edges to it and made it into a lethal weapon. He can put that thing around people’s heads, and swing it around…it’s what he uses a lot in the movie. He can use it as a spear.
B-D: Are you thinking of making a sequel to this, given how big a hit it’s been in Holland?
DM: Yeah, we are thinking about it. It’s not on the top of our priority list. So we have the sort of concept for a second one, but that all depends how it will play abroad. It fared well in Holland, and I’m really waiting to see what it does outside Holland. If…there’s demand for a sequel, then we’ll consider it.
B-D: As far as an American version of the movie, is this concept something you think would really translate well, considering how specific the premise is to the culture of Holland?
DM: Yeah, I think it’s specific. I get…people who are inquiring and want to buy the remake rights. I’m not really sure how that would turn out. I don’t know how they see this, because it’s so based on [our] tradition[s], and the setting is so Dutch…I don’t really see Sinterklaas on the rooftops of, for instance, New York, or in L.A., you know? It’s kind of weird to me that people are asking me for remake rights. I don’t know how they would approach it.
B-D: What was your experience like working in American filmmaking the last time around? [Editor’s Note: Maas has previously made two films in the U.S.] Was it a positive one?
DM: Working in America…I like it…I shot two movies now in [America]. The last one was `Down’ with Naomi Watts. I thought it was really cool.
B-D: There have been quite a few genre films coming out of northern European countries lately that have been getting quite a bit of attention in the U.S., and I’m wondering if you feel that’s translated to you getting more Stateside attention for this film.
DM: Well…there are a lot I think from Scandinavia, and Denmark, and not that much from Holland…but I don’t know if it’s changed that much. When I made a movie called `Amsterdamned’ in the `80s, it was already…it was released in [American] cinemas. So I don’t know if things have changed very much. But there’s always interesting genre movies, there are a lot of those remade in the States here. But I don’t know if it’s changed a lot since the `80s, I’m not sure.
B-D: I’m wondering if you’ve seen `Rare Exports’. I understand that it’s quite a bit different from your film, but I’m just curious because both deal with a killer Santa Claus figure.
DM: I haven’t seen it yet. I still have to see it. I became aware of it when we were starting to shoot. So it was a sort of coincidence that they were working more or less [at the same time]. Their film is about Santa Claus, and mine is about St. Nicholas. But yeah, it’s more or less a coincidence.
B-D: So what’s your next project after this?
DM: We’re [starting] a movie now called `Quiz’, and that’s a thriller. We’re starting to shoot in July or August in Holland…it’s about a game show host who has an appointment to meet his wife and daughter in a restaurant, and he’s waiting for them in the restaurant, but they don’t show up. And suddenly there’s a strange man at his table, and he claims to have kidnapped his wife and daughter, and he shows a photograph of them being tied up.
And the guy says, `you’ll have to answer ten questions [correctly] in an hour if you want to see them back alive.’ So he turns the tables around. He’s pretending to be the quiz master now, and the game show host is the contestant. From there, the story goes, and there are some twists and turns, et cetera. But that’s basically the idea.
B-D: Will you be returning to horror again down the road?
DM: I have another script ready, a big action movie, but I’m not sure what I’ll do after that. I like to do several genres. When I make a horror or thriller, then [I do] a sort comedy again, and then after that [I do] an action film. I like to do several genres…I don’t have a real horror movie lined up at the moment, though.
Exclusives
‘Tarot’ Filmmakers Spenser Cohen & Anna Halberg on Practical Creature Effects and ‘Insidious’ Inspirations
An evil curse gets awakened in Screen Gems horror movie Tarot when a group of friends recklessly ignore a sacred rule: never use someone else’s deck. Writers/Directors Spenser Cohen & Anna Halberg unleash a variety of Tarot card-inspired entities on the group through practical effects, and create an unexpected connection to Insidious along the way.
The film comes exclusively to movie theaters on May 3, 2024.
Bloody Disgusting spoke with Cohen and Halberg ahead of Tarot‘s release, where the pair shared more about the film’s practical effects-driven horrors and revealed how Tarot drew from Insidious in a specific way.
To start, though, the filmmakers reveal just how closely their horror movie sticks to the source novel Horrorscope by Nicholas Adams. The short answer is, well, it doesn’t at all!
Cohen explains, “It’s so different. We never even read the book and took nothing from the book. The only thing, the studio had a title that they liked, and so that’s why there was an association. Then we changed the title. So, now there’s literally zero connection to the book.“
“Sony had come to us wanting to make a horror movie about astrology, but there’s nothing that’s inherently scary to us about Zodiac signs. So, we came up with the idea of combining tarot readings and tarot cards with astrology, and that’s what ended up becoming the movie. There’s such incredible iconography in these cards that we really had a plethora of amazing characters to choose from,” Halberg adds.
Adain Bradley ‘Grant’ and Jacob Batalon ‘Paxton’ in Screen Gems TAROT
With a group of seven friends, expect to see their fates sealed by a number of cards. In other words, expect to see a wide variety of Tarot-inspired creatures tormenting the protagonists. The filmmakers stressed the importance of practical effects for their creatures.
Cohen tells us, “From the get-go, we said every creature is going to be practical. We were thinking of [David] Cronenberg, of Alien and The Thing, and we want our actors responding to real things, not a tennis ball. It always just looks better. You get better performances. With the designs themselves, if you look at the tarot cards and these specific characters, there’s nothing inherently terrifying about them, even though we associate the cards with being supernatural and terrifying. And [it’s] why we partnered with Trevor [Henderson], who was the only designer we met with. We were like, this is our guy because he has this ability to make the familiar feel unnatural.
“His designs are really grounded. I am sure you’ve seen a lot of his stuff where it’s like a hallway, and there’s something there, and something’s off about it, but it really feels like it’s in the space. We knew that he has a special brain for creating unique creatures, and he hadn’t done a movie, which is just shocking to us. Then, we knew that in order to pull that off, we would need a design team with equal skill. That was Dan Martin and his amazing team who worked hand in hand with Trevor to bring those to life.”
Larsen Thompson ‘Elise’ in Screen Gems TAROT
Great designs and practical effects are one thing, but it also falls to the performers to infuse these monsters with personality to make them memorable. That was also at the forefront of the filmmakers’ minds.
“In order for the creatures to translate, underneath all the prosthetics, you have to have great actors,” Cohen confirms. “We met with a lot of people. We were looking for people who were talking to us about the psychology and the movement and how they could move in a way that we hadn’t seen before or incorporate dance. We were looking for those outliers, and basically, everyone we hired approached the part as if there were no makeup or prosthetics. It’s like, ‘I am the Magician, so this is what I want to do. I’m going to have a limp. My body’s going to do this. I feel like my head is hunched.’ And we would watch these actors just embody these roles. It was really just picking great people, honestly. It’s hard to act through prosthetics and create emotion and fear and other things. You have to have an incredible control to be able to do that.”
Halberg elaborates,” Even though we enhanced some of the creatures with visual effects, we didn’t want to rely on that. So we needed people, like Spenser said, who each brought their own unique feel to these characters. They were just as important as all of the other actors in the movie and are so crucial to making sure that these sequences are scary and believable.”
Humberly González ‘Madeline’ in Screen Gems TAROT
One of the many Tarot creatures in the film is the Magician, who comes with an original song by the film’s composer, Joseph Bishara. While Bishara has delivered no shortage of great contemporary horror scores, including The Conjuring and Malignant, horror fans are likely more familiar with Bishara as the Lipstick Demon in the Insidious franchise. Cohen and Halberg can be counted among Insidious fans, so much so that they wanted an original song from the Lipstick Demon himself.
They explain, “We actually, in prep, we called Joe, and we said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do some kind of an old-timey song there.’ We knew something creepy, very Shining-esque. Then we had the idea to do a song called ‘I Saw You’ to be a pun on that whole thing. And actually use saws as the instrument. We found these YouTube videos, and our DP, I think, Elie [Smolkin] had found these videos of someone playing a saw. We were like, that’s terrifying.
“So we called Joe, and we said, ‘You know Tiptoe through the Tulips, how that’s like in Insidious?’ That’s the thing you leave the theater thinking about, and it gets under your skin. We were like, ‘Can you do that for us with an original song?’ He said yes. What you hear in the movie is basically what he played for us the first time. He was just like, ‘I have an idea. I’ll talk to you guys in a week.’ And then that was what we heard, and it was amazing.”
With so many entities and horror sequences, Halberg can’t pick a favorite. Instead, she offers one last tease, “I hope people come away with the realization that each of the sequences is so unique and different, and that each of the creatures is so special because we took a lot of time trying to craft each of these kills or scares to be their own thing and to feel different.
“Hopefully everybody can choose their own favorite.”
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