Wildschut

What a good surprise this little crime flick from Netherlands or Belgium, a gem from the eighties, as there was also in the same kind a German crime film; YEAR OF THE CAT. Very tense, no waste in the filming and a tremendous character direction. Xanks to Netflix to have provided such an item. The sheriff character is very surprising, as if it was a western feature and certainly not a Dutch one. I guess there are many of other films like this one, forgotten gems taking dust in distributors drawers.

(1985) Stronghold/ Wildschut (Game shelter) DUBBED THRILLER

Adapted from the novel by Felix Thijssen, a movie from the Netherlands that has Jim (Hidde Maas) and Charlie (Jack Monkau) taking a family farm and household hostage. It consists of a father, Deleye (Josse De Pauw); his wife, Sybil / Cybil (Chris Lomme); their oldest teenage son, Hugo (Mark Van Eeghem); the daughter, Lisa (Annick Christiaens) and baby Robbie. All the while during the army conducting their training exercise. While Jim is gruff and being very aggressive, it appears that Charlie has been shot on the leg, and as he is being carried to the bedroom, they figured as long as the family's baby stays close to them that they dare not try anything. And as it turns out, a casino has been robbed of $600,000 with the town's sheriff, Dalsom (Werther van der Sarren) out in pursuit for them.

It was routine until the last 20 minutes with some of the most ridiculous scenes is when the military show up to confront the two culprits without being scared or even arming themselves was one of the most dumbest things I had ever saw. And it was dumb stupid rotten convenient luck that the teenager, Hugo was caught attempting to steal the suitcase full of money from the back trunk. My impression from some of the users who did like it was that those asinine things happened as a result of filling time as it was supposed to be featured film.

I have seen the movie about 25 times and I know all the dialoges by head. For example: "Nou je toch bezig bent, voor mij met ham graag, dubbel gebakken" and "je hebt me helemaal nog niet, vreetzak!!" and "zie je nou wel bolle, toch nog met lege handen naar huis". The acting can be rated as toplevel. One actor which deserves special attention in this is HIDDE MAAS. The phrases he uses are exceptionell, and however not intended for this purpose it propagates enormous laughter by me till I get pain in the stomach.

In my view the best Dutch movie ever! Although from the 'eighties' the suspense and atmosphere are unique (for Dutch standards . . .). Hidde Maas plays an excellent role and his one-liners are absolutely THE BEST and unsurpassed! This movie definitely deserves a bigger audience. Have watched it >10 times and can recommend it to everybody. Friends of mine who have seen Wildschut all agree, this is high quality and many of them have seen the movie a few times as well. The one-liners by Jim (Hidde Maas) are razor sharp, his role very well played and the other characters do a (very) good job as well. Apart from big Hollywood productions (obviously), I haven't seen a movie since that meets Wildschut. Watching it more than one time makes it even better.

In the second half of the last century, The Italians are generally known for making cheap but popular pulp movies such as spaghetti westerns, giallo and eurocrime films. This a Dutch/Belgian version of the latter. It looks cheap, is at times acted poorly but is highly entertaining. Especially Hidde Maas as the baddie is an almost over the top delight. Ending is a bit weak, rest is enjoyable as long as you are not expecting too much.