Saint Nick (2010)


REVIEWER RATING: 
6/10


Saint Nick (aka Sint aka Saint) is a nice change of pace from the usual to come out of the Netherlands, and it's a welcomed revisit to the cheesy slasher sub-genre that we've all grown to love. Filled with fun practical effects and over-the-top gory deaths, Saint could've been a great flick had they done more with its main villain and didn't deliver such a poor climax.

Based on the highly celebrated Saint Nicholas Day (except in America), the film tells the legend of a bloodthirsty Bishop, who was burned to death by villagers several hundred years ago, and is said to return to the living whenever there's a full moon on December 5th to seek revenge. Accompanied by his army of "Black Petes", the evil Bishop wreaks havoc among the local populous, kidnapping children and slashing through anyone who gets in his way.

It's nice to see another holiday-themed slasher to come out of the genre, but it's a shame that the filmmakers didn't use the killer Bishop as much as they should have. A majority of the death and mayhem is caused by a group of dark complected ogre-looking mutha F'ers known as the "Black Petes," which I suppose would be similar to the equivalent to Santa's elves. The Bishop sadly isn't shown as much, except for a small handful of scenes, but definitely steals the show when he does make an appearance.

The film is obviously nothing original, but that's fine since it's not trying to be, and it's actually a nice homage to slashers of yesteryear. We've got beheadings, severed limbs, and lots of blood sprayed every which way. Had it not been for its comedic tone and entertaining gore, it would've just been another mediocre effort. Although rather enjoyable for the most part, the film's climax seemed rushed and unfinished; falling victim to another standard horror movie trope -- the bad ending.

Saint Nick is a surprisingly fun and enjoyable slasher that doesn't shy away from the gore and mayhem, but due to some bad decisions (not using the Bishop enough) and delivering an even worse climax, the film falls short in what could've been a great modern foreign slasher.
OVERALL: 
Saint Nick is a surprisingly fun and enjoyable slasher that doesn't shy away from the gore and mayhem, but due to some bad decisions (not using the Bishop enough) and delivering an even worse climax, the film falls short in what could've been a great modern foreign slasher.


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