[REVIEW] Kratt

Have you ever wanted to see a grandmother give birth to Satan with a ball and chain as the umbilical cord? Well now you can!

Rasmus Merivoo’s Estonian dark horror comedy Kratt is now available on VOD in North America. The film is a quirky retelling of the traditional myth of the kratt remixed with modern values and technology. A kratt is a creature brought to life using household objects and blood traded to the devil in exchange for a soul. Once brought to life, the summoner must continue to give the kratt tasks to complete or it will become violent.

The film follows internet obsessed siblings Mia (Nora Merivoo) and Kevin (Harri Merivoo) who take a trip to their grandmother’s (Mari Lill) countryside farm and summon a kratt of their own. After an attempt at stopping the summon, grandma is possessed by Satan and becomes the kratt herself. Chaos ensues until the children are able to exorcize Satan from their grandmother.

Kratt is a glorious time with a very tight and specific style that aids in heightening the camp and humor of the piece. Above everything, Kratt is hilarious and offers an hour and 50 minutes of pure laughter. It’s also delightfully gorey for a fairytale film. That being said, Kratt does spend its time trying to tackle a lot of plot points in order to connect the myth to modern life. The side plot follows a man running for office whose blood is used for the sacrifice. There is also an AI involved that is supposed to represent Siri. Though these are really interesting critiques of a world where people work for a master, much like the kratt, they were a bit of a distraction from the primary plot. These plots could have been their own film, or at least developed a bit more to tie everything together tightly. 

If you’re looking for a film with extreme on every end of the horror comedy spectrum, definitely check out Kratt, just make sure to avoid building a creature of your own!