Based on an old Thai folktale, Kraithong tells the story of crocodile king Shalawan (Sombat Metanee), who lives in his underwater cave in human form, but who changes into reptilian form to feed upon those stupid enough to take a dip in crocodile infested waters. One day, Shalawan sees a beautiful woman, Tapao-Thong (Supansa Nuengpirom) and decides to add her to his harem of wives. The girl's father declares that whoever rescues Tapao-Thong will be rewarded with marriage to his other daughter, Tapao-Kaew (Ampha Phoosit). Brave Krai-thong (Sorapong Chatree) accepts the challenge, using three magical items - a pike, a knife and a candle - given to him by the local Crocodile Wizard (Chamnong Bamphensab).
Using the magic candle to part the waters, Krai-thong pursues Shalawan to his cave, where he frees Tapao-Thong and defeats the crocodile king, allowing him to live if he promises not to kill anymore. Returning to the village on Shalawan's back, triumphant Krai-thong marries both sisters, after which the Wizard kills the crocodile king. Not one to waste an opportunity, Krai-thong returns to Shalawan's cave and seduces Vimila, one of the crocodile king's wives. He takes his new conquest to the village to be his third wife, but Tapao-Thong and Tapao-Kaew aren't happy, ordering local men to rape the woman. Vimila scares the men away by turning into a crocodile.
Any film that opens with a small child diving straight into the waiting jaws of a croc has got to be worth a watch in my book, and, sure enough, Kraithong is a lot of bonkers fun, delivering loads of dodgy special effects, gore, and general weirdness. There's a catfight in slow motion between two of Shalawan's crocodile wives; we get a rather nasty moment where a monkey has its paw chopped off and is used as bait; and I still don't know what to make of the scene in which a young boy sticks his head up an old guy's sarong to check out 'the bird laying on eggs in its nest'. Naturally, there's a lot of entertaining crocodile action too, with the Shalawan croc snapping off legs and chomping heads, and generally being a bit of a nuisance (directors Neramit and Sompote Sands using both real crocs and a large model to achieve these scenes), and let's not forget the hilarious sight of crocodiles carrying boulders in their jaws to block off the cave entrance.
With a running time of 105 minutes, the film does tend to drag during the final act, and ends rather abruptly in an unsatisfying manner, but, even so, I recommend Kraithong to those who avidly seek out unusual films from around the world.
