Amsterdamned (1988)

Amsterdamned (1988)-* * *1\2

Directed by: Dick Maas

Starring: Huub Stapel, Tatum Dagelet, Edwin Bakker, and Monique van De Ven











A mysterious serial killer is stalking the canals of Amsterdam. He wears a black wetsuit and diving mask, and he kills with a harpoon. As the body count rises, detective Eric Visser (Stapel) is assigned to catch him. It’s not going to be easy, as this particular baddie is extremely clever and crafty. Soon, the full force of Amsterdam’s police are chasing down the man terrifying their beloved city. Visser must not only catch the killer, but also protect his young daughter Anneke (Dagelet) and her friend Willy (Bakker), not to mention girlfriend Laura (van de Ven of Stunt Rock fame). Can he do it?

Amsterdamned, as you might be able to surmise from its great title, is an extremely enjoyable movie with a dark sense of humor. It takes Dutch culture, everything from its red light district, to Rembrandt paintings, to Amstel beer and of course its famous canals and architecture, and injects a malevolent, murdering presence into it. That, and the idea that a killer can use the canals to kill and escape, is excellent, original and crowd-pleasing. The whole venture has a great vibe and thus is a winner.

Huub Stapel as Visser is your typical quirky, unshaven cop who gets results. To our eyes he resembles a Dutch Jean Reno, or perhaps a Dutch Cobra (AKA Marion Cobretti). He also has a cool jacket and there are other wonderful 80’s fashions on display as well. Writer/director Dick Maas not only uses the city of Amsterdam to its full effect, but he also loads the movie up with inventive moments and unique camera angles. This keeps the pace of the movie on track, although at times it is hard to sustain the nearly two hour running time. And even though most of the characters dubbed their own voices, if the movie had been trimmed of a bit of fat, and subtitled instead of dubbed, we’d be looking at an ultimate classic. As it stands, it’s merely great. So not a huge loss there.

But we see why Maas decided to dub the movie, he was clearly going for the international (and especially the American) market. And he had every right to be successful in it, as the movie has some great chase scenes, as well as its unique concept and location. So he was able to formulate a winner, and Vestron must have agreed, as they released it on VHS here.

Featuring the wonderful end-credits title song by Lois Lane, we strongly recommend Amsterdamned.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Stunt Rock (1980)

Stunt Rock (1980)-* * * *

Directed by: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Starring: Grant Page, Monique van de Ven, Phil Hartman, and the band Sorcery



"Death Wish At 120 Decibels!"








Grant Page is our personal hero. An Australian stuntman known for his unbelievably dangerous stunt work, here he gets his own movie so he can display his charm to the audience as well. Director Brian Trenchard-Smith fashioned an innovative cross between a documentary, a fictional film and a concert film, and its ahead-of-its-time (even today) nature ensures pure entertainment that will appeal to any generation.  What’s so cool about Stunt Rock, besides the stunts and music, is that the filmmakers were smart enough not to weigh it down with an involved plot. There’s really no time for that, it has to be packed full with stunts and the music of the L.A. rock band Sorcery.

What happens is, Grant comes to Los Angeles to work on a new TV show starring Monique van de Ven, called Undercover Girl. Interestingly, her smarmy agent is played by Richard Blackburn, the director of the great Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973). The director of the show is played by Ron Raley, whose student film at UCLA was photographed by none other than Jim Morrison of The Doors fame when Morrison, Raley and Blackburn were at UCLA film school together. A very early appearance by Phil Hartman as the assistant director passes in a flash. Anyway, Grant ends up in a relationship with a magazine reporter (Margaret Gerard, wife of Trenchard-Smith) who is doing an article on stunt men. Meanwhile, Grant’s cousin is in the stage show for Sorcery, who re-enact cosmic battles between good and evil featuring wizards and demons while the band crank out their rockin’ tunes.

 This hugely entertaining film is just too awesome for words. The great Trenchard-Smith blasted out a tour-de-force of music and action - a majority of the movie is footage of Page’s death-defying stunts while Sorcery music blares on the soundtrack. Page’s insane, awe-inspiring work is so eye-popping, Trenchard-Smith puts it on split screens because one screen just isn’t enough!

The movie also has plenty of humor, as evidenced by the masked keyboard player with the funny voice (Doug Loch). Pure fun, the simplicity of the execution, married with the powerful combination of the music and the action, guarantees Stunt Rock the status of cinematic masterpiece. Trenchard-Smith described this gem as “a love letter to stuntmen in general and Grant Page in particular”, and that love comes through in spades, and the overall upbeat, positive vibe is totally winning.

Much of that has to do with the presence, music and magic tricks of Sorcery. If the filmmakers had gone with Foreigner or Van Halen (two other potential choices), it just would not have been the same, and Stunt Rock would have been an entirely different experience.

If you don’t like Stunt Rock, please seek psychiatric help immediately. You are a danger to the community.

NOTE: A lot of the information in this review came from the excellent Code Red 2-DVD set. Buy it right now.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett