Krai Thong DVD Review | Digital Retribution

Krai Thong (2001)

By: Devon Bertsch on March 21, 2006

Winson (Hong Kong) All Regions, NTSC. 1.78:1 (Non-anamorphic). Thai DD 2.0. English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese Subtitles. 92 Minutes

The Movie

Cover Art

Credits

Director: Suthat Intaranupakorn
Starring: Winai Kraibutr, Chutima Every, Praryfar Siriwidcha, Wannasa Thongviset
Country: Thailand

Krai Thong is the story of Krai Thong, who's evidently some legendary hero who battled the fearsome Chalawan, a giant monster crocodile able to take human form. Chalawan must really enjoy human form, since he spends a good portion of the running time in it. Anyway, there's this giant crocodile guy attacking a village, and he manages to be in a few places at once. The people run away in sped up motion and everyone gets really scared because they have this crocodile that can be all over the place at once on their property. The daughter of the village chief is abducted by Chalawan, and Krai Thong goes in the water after her. Ol' Krai must have the major libido as well, since he not only mates with the daughter after saving her, but also the mistresses of his adversary. There is a lot of sex going on, though some of it may have been fantasized. Either way, Krai gets laid a lot and the women all seemed like possessions. Yep, this is a real feminist piece.

Krai Thong is a bit odd. It tosses in an ear collecting barber, a man split in twain by a croc tail, ghosts, annoying stylized slow motion, camera shaking earthquakes, and displays the director's affinity for upwards angle tree shots. The crocs vary greatly in quality…and sometimes size. Along with size, the crocs' quality differs greatly depending on how the creatures manifest on screen, with the attacks often becoming disjointed. The CG is generally terrible, even worse than the reptiles in Schwarzenegger's Eraser. Some footage of real crocs is used well, but other times the real life subjects are obviously not large enough. The stop motion croc is absolutely hilarious as it 'tink tink tink's its way across the screen. When I bought this movie I was expecting stop motion, not bad CG, so I was a bit sad it wasn't featured more. There is one really neat effect that I assume was CG, though, of a woman who casts a croc reflection. Overall, Krai Thong plays like a bad TV movie.

Video

The film is presented letterboxed, but the matte shifts around. The print has specks and looks almost hazy at times, especially in the darks. The colours are also somewhat muted; the film looks a bit like Anchor Bay's Zombie DVD.

Audio

The film is in Thai with simplified and traditional Chinese or English subs. Mistakes abound and the subs are on the matte. The sound quality is better than that of other Thai films, like Snaker, but still several quality levels below what a DVD connoisseur is used to.

Extra Features

None.

The Verdict

Krai Thong is a bit slow, a bit stupid, a bit caught up in tame sex, and a bit annoying, but I didn't trade it straight away. If you can get it for say $5 it might be worth checking out, but there're not enough crocs to justify a full priced purchase.