Back in October we brought along the trailer for the curious Dutch horror flick SINT, about a murderous Santa Claus. Looking like a genuine horror article possessing some deranged humor but appearing to be a touch too quirky, I figured we wouldn’t hear a whole lot from SINT moving forward in the year. Shame on me for doubting the power of Saint Nick!
According to Variety, SINT is an instant smash: the flick opened last weekend in Holland and broke an opening weekend record for a Dutch film rated 16 and above, beating Paul Verhoeven’s BLACK BOOK. Figures released Thursday by the Dutch Film Distributors’ Association show SINT easily scored the biggest opening week for a Dutch film so far in 2010, taking E901,132 ($1.3 million) off 96 screens.
Furthermore, it whooped the asses of stateside hits JACKASS 3D, DUE DATE and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2, none of which mustered close to what SINT racked up in its first days. Perhaps the fact that Dutch helmer Dick Maas, a country favorite, directed the mayhem gave it the big boost.
Now the question is: when will the rest of the world get to lay eyes on this deranged Santa? If news of that sort comes in, we’ll shovel it your way for sure!