Things are going quite well for Dick Maas. The filmmaker’s latest picture, the Netherlands killer Santa flick SINT, was picked up for distribution by IFC Midnight yesterday, and it’s playing at the Tribeca Film Festival throughout the week. Maas spoke to Fangoria about his follow-up effort, QUIZ.
First, he spills some QUIZ plot details: “It’s about a game-show host who has an appointment with his wife and daughter in a restaurant, and he’s there waiting for them at night, and they don’t show up. Suddenly, a strange man appears who claims to have kidnapped his wife and daughter, and says, ‘You have one hour to answer 10 questions, and if you answer them correctly, you will see them alive again.’ He tells the guy they’re in a tank that’s slowly filling with water.
“It’s not really horror; it’s more like a suspense thriller. I think it can be rated for 12-year-olds. In Holland we have 12 and 16 ratings; SINT was 16, but this one is going to be 12.”
He also spoke of the film’s tone: “It mostly sort of plays between the two main characters in the restaurant, but there’s going to be a lot of suspense there, because the villain has to convince the game-show host that he’s telling the truth, and the host has to figure out what’s happening and how to get out of the situation. Then a lot of unexpected things happen; at one point the guy is suddenly gone, and the host is still wondering where his wife and children are, and the audience is in the same place. It becomes a race against time to get them safe.”
In addition to directing, Maas also wrote the script and is co-producing with Tom de Mol. The picture is currently in the casting phase with plans to enter production in July or August for a 2012 release. Maas says that his longtime leading actor, Huub Stapel (who plays St. Nicholas in SINT), will not likely be a part of the project due to time restraints.
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