Okay — first — a few quick house-keeping things…
- This not a zombie film, but it is relative to some of my zombie-film review — hence its being here.
- It is a Dutch film and it has a couple of different names — Saint, Sint, and Saint Nick. For the purposes of this post, it will be referred to as Saint.
- If you watch this film and you say to yourself “Hey, these Christmas traditions are totally messed up!” — well, Xmas practices and winter traditions differ around the world.
When it comes to the winter holidays in the Netherlands, for many of the children the most important dates are in early December. While St. Nicholas’ Day is on the 6th December, the major celebrations are held on the 5th December, which is St. Nicholas’ Eve — when the jolly old soul arrives and brings them their presents!
On St. Nicholas’ Eve Dutch children leave treats out for Sinterklaas. They also spoil Father Christmas’s horse (not reindeer) with water, hay, and carrots. In exchange, they get marzipan, chocolate coins, and hot cocoa.
The Saint takes a different twist on the popular traditions in the city of Amsterdam, portraying St. Nicholas and his Black Pete helpers as ghosts who murder large numbers of people when his annual celebration night coincides with a full moon.
And now…
The Reason Why I Have Included This Film
In My Zombie Movie Reviews
This film is a hell of a lot better than A Christmas Horror Story (2015) or the mass liberty-taking Krampus (also 2015). It has its scary bits along with being fun and funny. It also plays accurately to Xmas traditions instead of taking total license and doing whatever they want. This is cleverly done whereas IMO the other two are hack works. If you want to pepper your holidays with a Christmas horror film, watch Saint.
Christmas in The Netherlands / Holland — Christmas Around the World