Dick Maas Movies
- 2007
The Dutch-language comedy-of-errors Moordwijven observes the trials and travails of three hapless housewives who commission a hired killer to rub out one of their philandering husbands. Lo and behold, their scheme fails to go as planned and leads to all sorts of riotous complications. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Despite having lived relatively close to one another their entire lives, twins Tom and Thomas (both played by Aaron Johnson) have never met, though they are well aware of each other's existence. Coming together as people sometimes do in dire circumstances, Thomas finally runs into Tom as the latter is on the run from some malevolent child smugglers. As the kidnappers mistake Thomas for Tom and attempt to smuggle him out of the country via airplane, the original target must take matters into his own hands if he is ever to see his brother again and bring the family together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Bean, Aaron Johnson, (more)
At the Millennium Building in NYC, the elevators have a problem... they just can't stop killing people! Pregnant women, skater dudes -- they're all on the menu for these possessed motorized beasts. As elevator repairman Mark Newman (James Marshal) delves deeper into the mystery, everyone from his boss to the building manager stand in his way. His only help comes from Jennifer Naomi Watts, a nosy reporter that smells a cover-up when she sees it. As the "accidents" pile up, the President and FBI get involved as the heroic couple come face to face with technology gone horribly, horribly wrong. Down is a direct remake (shot for shot at times) of director Dick Maas' early 80's cult flick The Lift. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Marshall, Naomi Watts, (more)
A frightened child and her parents must endure a night of terror in this thriller. Walter (WIlliam Hurt) and Cathryn (Jennifer Tilly) are an American couple traveling in Amsterdam with their ten-year-old daughter Melissa (Francesca Brown). When Melissa accidentally witnesses a murder, the killers set out to find her and silence the child before she can tell anyone what she's seen. However, the problem is that Melissa can't tell her parents what's going on, as Melissa can't speak. Do Not Disturb also stars Denis Leary, Michael Chiklis, and Corey Johnson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
- 1996
Sara is an imaginative little girl who lives with her mother and her grandfather. Though happy enough, she dreams of reuniting her mother with her seldom-seen father, a national chess champion. When one of her school chums introduces her to the world of chess, she begins to spin an elaborate scenario involving the Queen. Tired of the laziness of her King, the Queen decides to vigorously attack her rivals. With elements to please both children and adults, this Dutch comedy drama follows the exploits of Sara and her Queen as they work to bring her estranged parents back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A family of Dutch hicks goes to Manhattan with hilarious results in this sophomoric Dutch comedy that is the sequel to the 1986 Dutch smash "Flodder." The Flodder family has just received word that they will be going to New York City as part of an international family exchange between the Netherlands and the USA. Havoc ensues as they are immediately mistaken for a Russian delegation at the airport. They are placed in the Plaza Hotel and proceed to trash the place. Later they agree to redecorate a nightclub in Dutch style. Also, the president's son falls in love with the Flodder's daughter who as become a stripper at the nightclub. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huub Stapel, Nelly Frijda, (more)
- 1989
- R
In 1966, a famous actor (Peter O'Toole) is taken by a rowboat to a fabulous old hotel on an island in the middle of a lake. He comes to find out that time stands still here -- and the reason is that he is dead. He discovers that all the residents of the hotel are famous but dead people, including Albert Einstein and Ernest Hemingway. It seems that as public interest in a dead celebrity fades away, the celebrity is given smaller and smaller rooms, until finally they are thrown out. Among the famous people that the actor meets is the writer who killed him -- for a good reason. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Colin Firth, (more)
- 1988
Now here's something you don't see every day: a skin-diving serial killer. Then again, since this melodrama takes place in Amsterdam, a town with almost as many canals as Venice, why should we be surprised that a murderer would swim from one killing to the next? A detective who isn't particularly fond of water tries to bring the finny fiend to justice. Essentially a B-grade slasher flick, Amsterdamned is distinguished by unexpectedly high production values. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huub Stapel, Monique Van de Ven, (more)
- 1986
Welcome to The Beverly Hillbillies, Dutch style. Nelly Frijda, Rene Van't Kof, Tatjana Sinic and Huub Stapel star as the low-rent, low-class Flodder family. Through a miracle of scripting, the Flodders move to a prosperous neighborhood. The resulting comedy highlights are all predicated on the old culture-clash gimmick. Flodder was popular enough to inspire two movie sequels (one of them tantalizingly titled Flodders in America), as well as a Dutch TV series, which ran from 1993 to 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelly Frijda, Huub Stapel, (more)
- 1985
Before she became the wife of historian Kenneth Durand in 1950, Helen van Dongen was a celebrated film editor with a career going back to the end of the silent era. This documentary looks both at the woman and her work and is highlighted by excerpts from films she edited (Spanish Earth, Louisiana Story and many others). Her career spanned several continents, as she either studied, worked or taught in Berlin, Paris, Moscow, and New York -- ending up in Vermont after her marriage, and the end of her film career.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1985
This satirical Dutch film was the debut of its director-writer-star, Alex Van Warmerdam. Abel is a 31-year old man who still lives with his parents and is petrified of the outside world. His parents try their best to socialize him -- in some very funny scenes -- before his father (Henri Garcin) finally kicks him out. Abel does adjust and even finds love, the catch being that his paramour (Annet Malherbe) happens to be his father's mistress. Van Warmerdam's theatrical background is very much in evidence, as the cinematography (by Marc Felperlaan) and set design recall nothing so much as an off-Broadway play, albeit an occasionally hilarious one. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alex Van Warmerdam, Henri Garcin, (more)
- 1983
Black humor dominates in this macabre story about a murderously animated elevator and its repairman Felix (Huub Stapel) and Felix's voluntary new assistant Mieke (Willeke van Ammelrooy), a reporter for a tabloid paper. When the elevator decapitates a security guard and tries to suffocate some party-goers, it becomes obvious that it needs more than a 60,000-mile check-up. After Felix narrows down the possibilities to some experiments his company is doing with microchips, he is coincidentally suspended from his job -- indicating that the elevator is not acting alone. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huub Stapel, Willeke van Ammelrooy, (more)
