Amsterdamned

Amsterdamned is a 1988 Dutch crime thriller with slasher film elements directed and written by Dick Maas, and stars Huub Stapel, Monique van de Ven, and Serge-Henri Valcke. The plot revolves around a serial killer who uses the famed canals of the Amsterdam to murder random people, one of which involves a detective's girlfriend linked to the murders.

Plot

The film opens with a point-of-view shot, as a murderer surveys Amsterdam's canals at night. He slips into the back of a Chinese restaurant, steals a butcher's knife, and stalks his first victim, a prostitute. After she fights off a cab driver, the killer stabs her and drags her body into the water, watched by a bag lady. The next morning, a tour boat collides with her corpse, horrifying the passengers.

Detective Eric Visser is assigned to the case. Eric, raising his thirteen-year-old daughter Anneke, is respected despite his late nights and occasional drink. His partner Vermeer takes him to the crime scene where another officer questions the bag lady, who insists it was a monster who rose from the water.

That night, two environmentalists investigating a chemical plant are attacked; one is dragged under, and the other finds his severed head attached to the anchor, before being pulled in himself. Eric and Vermeer examine the bodies and realise they are facing a serial killer. Eric reunites with John, an old friend from the river police, and they begin working together.

During an investigation at a sporting club, Eric meets Laura, a museum guide, and her friend Martin Ruysdael, a psychiatrist. Eric and Laura quickly develop feelings for each other. Meanwhile, the killer strikes again, murdering a salvationist and a young woman on an inflatable sunbed. Frustrated at the lack of progress, Eric and John pursue a chemical plant ex-employee, but Eric doubts his guilt.