Again, terror comes from the water, but don't let you be fooled, there's nothing that can be taken for granted in this eccentric Dutch horror flick. This is the third movie directed by Dick Maas, one of the most successful directors of the little known Dutch cinema, after the lucky "De Lift" (1983), awarded at the Avoriaz festival. "Amsterdamned" is a thrilling slasher that's almost a "psycho" version of the famous "Jaws", from which ironically borrows the famous scenes with subjective camera technique, underwater and on the surface. With his effective visual talent, Dick Maas (who wrote the script and composed the soundtrack, too), films a fascinating and putrescent Amsterdam, with its muddy canals and its magnificent settings. Apart from the inventions of Dick Maas' direction, the script, never banal and full of turning points, that always avoids to sink in "already seen" things, the credible acting by all the members of the cast, the excellent make-up of the disfigured maniac, shrewdly showed only in the end, are praiseworthy. This is entertainment cinema at his best. You must see it!

Now I can't believe that this little gem has passed me by for so long, especially being a big fan of slashers and giallo movies, well this was a nice treat and it's appealing enough and just when you thought you've seen everything that this genre has to offer, "Amsterdamned" puts a unique spin on things by featuring a killer dressed in scuba diving gear swimming around the canals of Amsterdam looking for his next victim.

It's all well paced, being mainstream enough for thriller fans and yet gruesome e and sleazy enough for horror fans. That is also dozens of red herrings that keeps the viewer interested enough to keep watching up until the final reveal which okay can be a bit of a cop out, but the dozens of stunts that were handled very well, and when the killer pops out of the water to claim its next victim, it is genially scary and given the fact that he can do this and escape easily into the canals does add a sense of danger to the proceedings and makes everything a lot more tense and frightening.

The main central character Vissor played brilliantly by Huub Stabel who's trying to solve this case before the killer strikes again and also has the best scene in the movie with the speed boat chase, which was exciting and thrilling at the same time, and will always be an iconic memorable scene. This movie also uses the beautiful city of Amsterdam to its full effect showing all the beautiful sights and scenery. Another standout performance was Serge-Henri Valcke who clearly steals the show with his funny comedic elements, which adds a touch of greatness to this movie.

All in all "Amsterdamned" is a great watch and is a definite highlight in the giallo genre and has a great mix of everything and plus a really cool killer.

"Amsterdamned" is probably the only real Dutch action movie ever made. As such, it's also the best Dutch action movie ever made. When compared to standard Hollywood action movies, Amsterdamned falls somewhere in the middle: it's not a masterpiece, but it's not terrible either.

The acting is usually terrible in Dutch movies, and this movie is no different. Monique v.d. Ven and Huub Stapel are fine, but the supporting cast is filled with a bunch of over-acting amateurs. Sound quality is poor too: I am from Holland and I often have trouble understanding what the people are saying. But the action sequences (and there are a lot of those) are surprisingly well done for Dutch standards. And fortunately, the movie doesn't take itself too seriously.

All in all the action and humour make up for the occasionally terrible acting and somewhat flawed plot.

**/2 out of **** stars