'Mug en Zifter'.
Dick Maas is a Dutch film scriptwriter, director and producer, best known for cult classics such as 'De Lift' ('The Elevator', 1983), 'Flodder' (1986) and 'Amsterdamned' (1988). His films are known for their subversive mix of grotesque horror and sardonic comedy, as well as their action sequences, stunts and clever special effects. An allround moviemaker - he was generally responsible for the scripts, storyboards, direction and soundtracks of his films - Dick Maas explored genres previously unseen in Dutch cinema, like action and horror. Along with Paul Verhoeven and Jan De Bont, he is one of the Dutch film directors who acquired cult status, both in his home country and internationally. Prior to his movie career, in the early 1970s, Maas was active as a comic artist, creating the gag comic 'Mug en Zifter' and various other alternative comics. Dick Maas is one of the few famous live-action film directors to have drawn comics in their career, along with Jan Bucquoy, Damiano Damiani, Don Dohler, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Lynch, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Tashlin.
Early life and comics career
Dirk Willem Herman Maas was born in 1951 in Heemstede, in the province of North Holland. His mother was the stage actress Inge Beekman (1924-2009), he didn't know his father. When he was twelve, he sent in jokes to the Dutch comedy duo The Mounties, and by age sixteen he was determined to make a feature film. Between 1973 and 1977, Maas studied at the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam, where he graduated cum laude.
In his spare time, he worked as a cartoonist and artist of comic stories, some of which were photo comics. In April 1973, Maas self-published the sole issue of the underground periodical Formule S, in which he already showcased his cynical sense of humor. He created the buck-toothed boy characters 'Mug en Zifter' (a pun on the Dutch word "muggenzifter", roughly translated as "hair-splitter") and contributed to underground magazines like Joost Swarte's Modern Papier (1972), Evert Geradts' Tante Leny Presenteert (1972) and Aloha (from 1972). In 1976, a book with Maas' 'Mug en Zifter' stories was published by Har van Fulpen's Drukwerk. Although his career in comics was short, the medium's over-the-top way of storytelling has remained an influence on his film projects. Maas has also drawn the storyboards for his films himself.
'Appie Eet Een Happie' (from: Tante Leny Presenteert #8, January 1972)
De Lift (The Elevator)
In 1973, Maas was admitted to the Netherlands Film Academy, where he graduated four years later with the short film 'Adelbert', about a man and his girlfriend who, in vain, try to commit suicide by waiting for a train on an unguarded railway crossing. He directed some short films during the late 1970s and early 1980s, before making his feature film debut as writer and director of 'De Lift' ('The Elevator', 1983), a horror thriller about an elevator that kills its passengers. Shot in only 32 days, Maas composed his own soundtrack to save costs, a tradition he kept for all his other films. Despite the low budget, 'De Lift' starred famous actors, like Willeke van Ammelrooy, Piet Römer and Cor Witschge (the latter famous for playing Pipo de Clown in the children's TV series of the same name). The lead role was played by the relatively unknown Huub Stapel, who quickly became a star and appeared in several other Maas films.
'De Lift' was also a box office hit in The Netherlands, which led to Hollywood studio Warner Brothers signing a contract with Maas for the movie's international distribution, helping it become a worldwide cult movie. Elements from the picture were also used in the music video of 'When the Lady Smiles' (1982) by the Dutch rock band Golden Earring. Maas also directed three other music videos for them, namely 'Twilight Zone' (1982), 'Clear Night Moonlight' (1984) and 'Burning Stuntman' (1997). In 1984, he was commissioned by MTV to direct a concert film for the Golden Earring. Three decades later, Maas directed an American remake of 'De Lift', named 'Down' (also known as 'The Shaft', 2001), but it received lukewarm reviews and was quickly forgotten. The comic artist Mars Gremmen storyboarded some scenes for 'Down'.
First Floor Features
While Maas had made his first feature film in collaboration with producer Matthijs van Heijningen, he co-produced his later films himself with his business partner Laurens Geels. In 1984, Maas and Geels founded the production company First Floor Features, a nod to the elevator-theme of 'De Lift'. The company produced most of Maas' film projects in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. It also funded films by other Dutch directors, such as the classics 'Abel' (1986), 'De Noorderlingen' (1992), 'Lang Leve de Koningin' (1995), 'Karakter' (1997) - which won the Academy Award for 'Best Foreign Feature' - and 'All Stars' (1997). The company also oversaw the production of the 'Flodder' TV series. After First Floor Features had gone bankrupt in 2004, Maas started another company, Parachute Pictures. In 2014, he also added the music production company Parachute Music Factory to his assets.
'Flodder in Amerika' film poster, drawn by Martin Lodewijk.
Flodder
In 1986, Maas wrote, directed and co-produced the black comedy 'Flodder', about a dysfunctional family that moves into a posh neighborhood, featuring a cigar-smoking, no-nonsense mother (Nelly Frijda), her hustling and bustling teenage children, a senile grandfather and a vicious dog. Huub Stapel played teenage son Johnnie, who is involved in all kinds of shady businesses, while Croatian-Dutch actress Tatjana Šimic portrayed the naïve sex bomb daughter, who frequently prostitutes herself or has herself ravaged by dumb men, so her brothers can take pictures in secret and afterwards blackmail the horny geezers. In one memorable scene, she is taken doggy style on her neighbor's car, causing her to naïvely remark: "Maar, buurman, wat doet u nu?" ("But, neighbor, what are you doing now?"). This scene fired the imagination of many impressionable teenage boys, so much in fact that it is referenced in the nostalgic song 'Kvraagetaan' by the Belgian band Fixkes as their first introduction to "titties". Maas later also titled his autobiography after daughter Flodder's infamous quote.
Audiences loved the crass humor and gratuitous nudity in 'Flodder', while critics praised its satire of class differences. Despite being uncivilized and crime-involved, the Flodders still come across as more sympathetic and authentic than the posh, hypocritical people in their neighborhood who look down on them. The film became a cult box office success in The Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium. Again an attempt was made to distribute it internationally, with versions being dubbed in English, French and German. A sequel was unavoidable. 'Flodder in Amerika!' (1992) brought the family to the United States and was largely filmed in New York City. Simultaneous with the original Dutch-language version, the actors also recorded their lines in English. American actors like Jon Polito were brought in to appeal to a potential American audience. Critics panned the sequel for being too similar to the first movie, with its American setting being used as a gimmick instead of a strong narrative. In the Dutch-language edition of Mad Magazine, the film was spoofed in issue #245 (1992), titled 'Modder in Amerika', scripted by Wijo Koek and drawn by Willy Lohmann. Koek showed some self-mockery, since he was involved as a storyboard artist with the original movie too. Together with Maas, he also scripted the official 'Flodder in Amerika!' comic book adaptation, which had artwork by Marcel Bosma. Originally, Martin Lodewijk seemed to be the natural choice, since he had designed all the film posters for the franchise. Lodewijk made a two-panel try-out, but already had enough work on his hands and so he pulled back from the project.
Despite bad reviews, the 'Flodder in Amerika' movie was still successful enough to greenlight a TV spin-off series about the family. Five seasons of the sitcom 'Flodder' (1993-1998), co-directed and co-written by Maas, were broadcast on Veronica. Among the scriptwriters were comic artist Hanco Kolk and former 'Donald Duck' scriptwriter Wijo Koek. The show was a huge ratings hit in the Netherlands and Germany. In 1995, another movie sequel was released, 'Flodder 3' (1995). The picture, again set in The Netherlands, combined three unused scripts for the TV show. This time, the character of Johnnie wasn't played by Huub Stapel, but by Coen van Vrijberghe de Coningh, who also played the role in the TV series. Even though it still drew an audience, critics chewed 'Flodder 3' out. The franchise was halted when Vrijberghe de Coningh died suddenly from a heart attack in 1997.
Covers for 'Flodder' comic books.
Following the bankruptcy of First Floor Features, Maas for several years didn't own the rights to the Flodder franchise. In 2005, the curator sold the rights to two existing 'Flodder' series to RTL and the remainder of film and TV rights to Pieter Klapwijk's Armada Productions, who was planning a new TV series. He sued, lost in 2009, but in appeal the judge returned the rights to him. This paved the way for new potential Maas-led 'Flodder' projects. It also made it possible for Maas to veto unauthorized comic book adaptations of his films, like in the anthology book 'Filmfanfare' in 2011. The book was intended as a homage to 57 Dutch film classics, adapted into several one-page comics by 57 renowned Dutch comic artists. Both 'De Lift', drawn by Aimée de Jongh, and 'Flodder', drawn by Boris Peeters, were planned for inclusion. However, Maas was not informed, nor paid, and registered an official complaint. He was supported by film director Alex van Warmerdam ('Abel', 'De Noorderlingen') and Dorna de Rouveroy, who owned the rights to the movies of Wim Verstappen.
The 'Flodder' franchise has remained Maas' most popular work. Both the movies and the TV series have been repeated numerous times on Dutch television. In the Dutch language, the word "Flodder" has become an eponym for asocial, obnoxious and vulgar families. In 2016, a new comic book about the Flodder family was published, 'Het Mysterie van de Dode Blondjes' (2016). Maas and Wijo Koek returned as scriptwriters, but the anonymous, presumably South American artist is yet to be identified (Fernando Sosa did a test page, but had to turn down the assignment). The story was notable for having a brand new script.
Later film career
In 1988, Maas returned to the horror genre with 'Amsterdamned' (1988), a gory thriller about a serial killer operating in the Amsterdam canals (although some of the exterior action sequences were filmed in the canals of Utrecht). Again starring Huub Stapel, 'Amsterdamned' became a cult movie too and the title song by Loïs Lane was a hit on Dutch radio. In September 2024, filming began for a sequel to the movie, set to be released in 2025, the year of Amsterdam's 750th anniversary.
In 1999, Maas also directed an episode of the TV series 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles', a spin-off of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas' adventure film series, focusing on the childhood and teenage years of Indiana Jones. Set in the 1900s and 1910s, Jones travels all over the world and usually meets one historical character per episode. Maas' episode, 'Transylvania', stands out for three different reasons. It's the only episode not filmed by an American, was never broadcast on U.S. television and moved away from the plausible reality of the series. It was shot in two different locations, Turkey and Romania. Director Mike Newell shot the scenes in the Turkish city Istanbul, while Maas shot in the Italian city Venice and the Romanian province of Transylvania, where Jones meets the utterly fictional Count Dracula. Although the episode wasn't broadcast on U.S. TV for being too violent for young viewers, it was shown in other countries and is available as part of 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles' video and DVD collections, though retitled as 'Masks of Evil'.
In later years, Maas made an attempt to crack the American market with the comedy-thriller 'Do Not Disturb' (also known as 'Silent Witness', 1999). The film had an all-American cast, including stars like William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly and Denis Leary, but still went direct-to-video in the USA. After this failed experiment, Maas went back to the Netherlands, where he shot the black comedy 'Moordwijven' ("Murder Babes", 2007), in which three women hire a killer to assassinate their adulterous husbands. In 2010, the cult director showed his love for subverting innocence again by directing a horror movie about the beloved Dutch seasonal character Sinterklaas (Saint Nicolas): 'Sint' (2010). The picture caused a media uproar because some moral guardians felt the poster was too frightening and upsetting for children. Maas' next thriller, 'Quiz' (2012), became the first huge flop in his career, but 'Prooi' (2016) - about an escaped lion in an Amsterdam park - was a commercial success thanks to a viral campaign built around its trailer. The picture was an unexpected box office hit in China.
Literary career
In 1998, Dick Maas released the thriller novel 'Salvo'. Starting in 2021, he also began writing crime novels with the characters from his 'Amsterdamned' series. In 2017, Maas published a book about making films in the Netherlands, titled 'Buurman, Wat Doet U Nu?', named after the iconic line from the 1986 'Flodder' movie. The book provides an overview of Maas' film career, without sugarcoating the less appealing aspects and incidents. It also offered practical tips for aspiring movie makers.
Recognition
Maas received several national and international film awards throughout his career. 'De Lift' ('The Elevator', 1983) received a Gouden Kalf for "Best Picture". With this film, he was also the first Dutchman to be honored with a Grand Prix at the Festival of Avoriaz (France). In 2020, Maas was the subject of the documentary 'De Dick Maas Methode', which premiered during the Netherlands Film Festival.
'Mug en Zifter'.