Verdict
Summary
Enjoyably pulpy and skeezy, Amsterdamned just about has it all for genre fans. The climactic boat chase towards the end is almost as good – or even better – than any boat chase ever filmed for a James Bond film, and with all the slashings, car chases, and sexual heat, this film is bound to be a fun discovery for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet
Plot: Down in the murky depths of Amsterdam’s famous canals lurks a murderous predator. Surfacing at night, he kills at random and disappears without a trace. As the bodies begin to pile up and mass hysteria envelopes the city, Detective Eric Visser is assigned to head the investigation. With only the escalating number of victims to go on, Visser pursues his quarry with a vengeance, unaware that his beautiful new girlfriend may be the mysterious killer’s next victim.
Review: Part slasher, part action thriller, Dick Maas’ 1988 genre hybrid Amsterdamned begins with the slaying of a Holland hooker on the streets of Amsterdam. Her killer is a wetsuit-wearing stalker who spends his nights lurking in the filthy canals that stretch on for miles in every direction in Amsterdam, but he seems to go after single, defenseless women walking near the water. The next morning after the hooker is killed, her body is strung up and hung for tourists to behold (in a shocking, but amusing scene where a bunch of children on a tour get a good look at her bloody corpse), and the best detective in Amsterdam – a divorced single dad with a perpetual haggard look named Visser (Huub Stapel) – is called in and put on the case. Without any real leads, it takes a few more murders (there’s one every night for almost a straight week) for Visser to get close to any credible suspects. In the meanwhile, he tries romancing an attractive female diver (played by Monique Van De Ven) who may actually be close to the killer, and so Visser’s strategy is to get close to her to get close to the killer. With the city on the verge of panic, can Visser find the killer before the case is taken away from him?
Enjoyably pulpy and skeezy, Amsterdamned just about has it all for genre fans. The climactic boat chase towards the end is almost as good – or even better – than any boat chase ever filmed for a James Bond film, and with all the slashings, car chases, and sexual heat, this film is bound to be a fun discovery for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.
Genre label Blue Underground’s recent deluxe Blu-ray / DVD combo pack of Amsterdamned looks and sounds great in a 2K transfer. Chock full of special features, this is a definite should-purchase for any devoted collector.
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