Dir: DICK MAAS
Country: NETHERLANDS
AKA:
De Lift
Goin' Up
Genre
cinema in the Netherlands is pretty much non-existent, and this probably has a
great deal to do with the fact that the majority of indigenous production
relies on government funding. The cultural unworthiness of the horror genre,
which is still viewed by some as little more than the outpourings of
underdeveloped and immature minds, is never likely to find a great deal of
sympathy in a film culture dependent on state subsidies. Nevertheless there
have been a few co-productions over the years, and a handful of horror projects
categorised as Dutch have emerged to blink confusedly in the light of the
international arena. The name Dick Maas is at the epicentre of this tiny cycle
thanks to The Lift, Amsterdamned (1988 – an underrated and
criminally under-seen film which is arguably the greatest Dutch horror film), The Shaft (2001 – a remake of The Lift starring Naomi Watts no less!),
and Saint (2010). In recent years the
Dutch director Tom Six has stolen the headlines with his execrable Human Centipede films, the first of
which was deceptively amusing, but the sequel was little more than an exercise
in gross repugnance, and was unsurprisingly an American production. Other
noteworthy Dutch horror films worth investigating include The Johnsons (1992), Necrophobia
(2005 – for fans of Nekromantik
[1988], if there are any!), and Two Eyes
Staring (2010).
