Saint

Saint, released in the Netherlands as Sint, is a 2010 Dutch horror comedy written and directed by Dick Maas, who returned to the genre he had made his name in with The Lift and Amsterdamned. It stars Huub Stapel as Niklas, a medieval bishop turned marauder whose vengeful ghost rides the Amsterdam rooftops whenever the feast of Sinterklaas falls on a full moon, with Egbert-Jan Weeber, Caro Lenssen and Bert Luppes.

Horror that turns a national Christmas tradition into a monster movie depends on effects that never break the joke or the fright. The craft lies in extending practical prosthetics with digital burn and decay work, in atmospheric simulation — snowfall, breath, smoke and firelight — that binds a costumed performer to a winter night, in wire and rig removal for rooftop chases, and in CG environments and matte painting to open up a period cityscape. Compositing and rotoscoping hold the illusion together shot by shot. Terminal FX supplied visual effects and animation on Saint, part of the studio’s film, television and commercial body of work.