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Veteran Dutch director Dick Maas caused something of a sensation with his 2010 release Sint. A bloody Christmas themed slasher released locally at the height of the holiday season before premiering internationally at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, Sint shot up the local box office charts while winning a loyal cult around the globe.And Maas is back now with Quiz, a darkly comic thriller about a game show host whose family is kidnapped following his final show. Barry Atsma - who also stars in upcoming thriller Taped - plays the lead.We ran the first teaser for Quiz a little while back and that has now been followed by a full trailer which you can view - English subtitles included - below....

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? Day Is Done Trailer Thomas Imbach seems to be one of those kinds of filmmakers who would eschew the kind of populist documentary filmmaking that...

[Updated with English subtitled trailer.]Dutch maverick Dick Maas (Amsterdamned, The Lift) has an enormous success last year with his 80s throwback slasher film Sint. Released on these shores as Saint, the film is a bloody romp that reimagines Saint Nicholas as a villain riding through Amsterdam looking for bloody revenge and it broke box office records when released in The Netherlands before rolling out to great success on the festival circuit worldwide.And now Maas has reteamed with his Sint producer to create Quiz, a darkly comic thriller.A famous gameshow host is being harrassed in a restaurant by a strange man who claims to have kidnapped his wife and daughter. A morbid game ensues in which the gameshow host turns out to be the candidate. The...

There's something brewing in the Netherlands. Perhaps emboldened by the recent success of titles like Sint and New Kids Turbo the Dutch film industry is embracing genre oriented fare in a way they haven't in recent memory. There's the second New Kids film coming soon, of course, and Sint director Dick Maas will return to screens with Quiz while director Peter Kuijpers will soon turn in ultra dark drama Manslaughter. And now here comes writer-director  Max Porcelijn with Plan C.Ronald Plasmeyer (Ruben Van Der Meer) is a small-time Amsterdam detective, struggling with financial problems because of his gambling habit. When the Chinese crime boss Hao threatens Ronald's ex-wife and son to get his money back, Ronald comes up with a plan that will solve...

As the holiest range of dates in the British horror fanatic’s calendar now consigns itself to history, so too do the memories of this year’s Film4 FrightFest (Thursday 25 August to Monday 29 August). As usual, Dread Central was on the scene to bring you insight into the machinations of the UK’s biggest horror film festival. Read on for the details and a sample of our huge forthcoming image gallery!

Now in its twelfth year of operation, the UK’s premier destination for lovers of all things scary and violent appears to have settled solidly into what will likely be its permanent home for the future – the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square. Did we mention last year that it’s also the largest cinema screen in the UK? We did, you say? Well, it is. And it’s a wonderful thing to behold every single time you enter the auditorium.

It's times like this when we here in the States couldn't be more jealous of our friends across the pond. One of the best damned horror film festivals in the world, The Film4 FrightFest, has announced its full slate of films, and all we can say is ... wow.

From the Press Release: Hebrew horror, killer Santas, carrot-wielding maniacs, demented descents, a werewolf musical, the end of the world and troll hunters – it can only be Film4 FrightFest, back for a terrifying twelfth year.

From Thursday 25 August to Monday 29 August, the UK’s premiere event for horror fans will be at the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square to present 37 films on two screens. Empire 1 will house the main event while the Discovery strand will play in Empire 4. There are eleven countries represented, with seven world premieres and a record-equalling twenty UK or European premieres.

This year’s line-up reflects...

Hebrew horror, killer santas, carrot-wielding maniacs, demented descents, a Werewolf musical, the end of the world and Troll Hunters – it can only be Film4 FrightFest, back for a terrifying twelfth year. Everyone’s favourite U.K. genre film festival is back to present a total of 37 spine-tinglers in two screens. This is Sound On Sight’s third year in partnership with FrightFest, and every year John McEntee and Al White provide some killer film reviews from the fest. Check out the list of films below.

From Thurs 25 August to Monday 29 August the UK’s premiere event for horror fans will be at the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square to present 37 films in two screens. Empire 1 will house the main event while the Discovery strand will play in Empire 4. There are eleven countries represented, with seven world premieres and a record-equalling twenty UK or European premieres.

This year’s...

I unfortunately missed filmmaker Dick Maas while he was in town to promote Saint at the Tribeca Film Festival but he was kind enough to answer some questions via email. Here.s what he had to say:

Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about Saint?

Hello MovieGeeks, my name is Dick Maas and I.ve been making movies for the past 30 years, mostly in Holland. I.ve made comedies, like the Flodder series and Killer Babes, action flicks like Amsterdamned and horror/thrillers like The Lift, Do Not Disturb, Down and recently Saint.

Saint is a thriller/horror about the St. Nicholas legend. St. Nicholas is the biggest yearly celebration in Holland. It takes place on the 5th of December. Children put their shoes in front of the chimneys and when they were not naughty in the past year, they find them filled with presents the next morning.

Saint or Sint, the new action/horror hybrid slasher flick from Dutch director Dick Maas, had its North American premiere earlier this week at the Tribeca Film Fest.

Re-imagining the character of St. Nicholas as a bloodthirsty, child-killing, undead Bishop might seem controversial, but the makers of Saint take pride in transforming the Coca-Cola, cookie-cutter, Haddon Sundblom-esque depiction of Santa Claus we know and love into the next great slasher icon.

Later this year (around Christmas we’re guessing), genre fans here in the States will have a reason to go to the movies after October 31st when Saint starts making its way across the country thanks to IFC Midnight’s distribution deal.

Dread Central caught up with the director during Tribeca to find out why he hates Santa Claus so much.

DC: What made you want to take the benign Dutch legend of St. Nicholas and turn it into something sinister?...