Dick Maas

Dick Maas is the Netherlands' most commercially successful film director. The acclaimed writer/director got his start in 1975 with his short, "Historia morbi," a macabre tale of murder and father-son relationships. Maas built his reputation with a string of short films. By the 1980s, he became his own producer and in short order was creating the works for which he has become best known. In 1983, he wrote and directed a daffy horror feature about a demonic elevator that traps and torments a group of partygoers. The film, "De lift," subsequently won Maas his first Golden Calf from the Nederlands Film Festival. He'd win again in 1986 for his failure-to-launch comedy "Voyeur," and the following year for the class-conflict comedy "Flodder." The latter centered on a low-class family who flounders at fitting into their new upper-class neighborhood. The politically incorrect satire drew Maas much attention, and began a franchise that would go on to spawn sequels and a spin-off series. But before the franchise took off, Maas made the serial killer thriller "Amsterdamned," which proved hugely popular in his homeland and ultimately drew international notice when it became the third-highest-selling movie at the 1988 American Film Market. Though the accomplished auteur continues to make movies, his output has slowed over the past decade. Still, Maas's dark comedies and ghastly horror films continue to make audiences around the world guffaw and scream in turn.