As this Dutch slasher film opens a mixed group of young students are 'auditioning' others to find a new housemate. This involves the young men hoping to join them sitting in an ice bath... one of the final two remaining suffers a heart attack; he dies. The others don't call an ambulance as they fear their futures will be ruined. Two years pass and they are finishing their studies; to celebrate they rent a house in the Frisian city of Sneek during the popular Sneekweek water sports event. One of them is soon found dead; the head of the local police quickly rules it a suicide as he doesn't want to frighten the tourists, but other officers suspect otherwise. Soon the death toll rises; somebody is targeting this particular group. Given the killer's choice of weapons they appear to have a power tool fetish!
Films in the slasher genre aren't expected to feature on lists of the greatest films; they tend to be about good looking twentysomethings dying in creatively unpleasant ways... if that is what you want this delivers. The group of students aren't too likeable so one isn't too sympathetic when they start dying. The deaths, while not overly bloody, are quite disturbing, perhaps because more than one character suffers unpleasant injuries without immediately dying. The acting is solid enough even though I suspect looks were the most important criteria at the auditions. There are nods to well-known films; most obviously 'Scream', which characters actually watch and one point; and 'Jaws' with the police chief worried about scaring the tourists mirroring the mayor's actions in the '70s classic. The identity of the masked killer isn't too obvious although there are hints. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of the slasher genre; it's not that original but it delivers unpleasant deaths in pleasant surroundings.
These comments are based on watching the film in Dutch with English subtitles.
