(This article contains spoilers for "V/H/S/94" episode "Storm Drain")
Raatma is a giant monstrous rat featured in the horror anthology film V/H/S/94. In the short film "Storm Drain", Raatma serves as the central antagonist against a reporter and cameraman duo. While at first skeptical of the beast, the news team quickly find that Raatma is very much real and even has a cult following. V/H/S/94 does not give any indication to the extent of Raatma's abilities, nor does it deliver on Raatma's origins. However, the creators of the horror short have given insight toward the story behind the mysterious creature.
According to Chloe Okuno, the director and writer of "Storm Drain", Raatma was actually inspired by "The Catman", a cryptid from Greenock, Scotland. Reports of the Catman in Scotland began in the 70s, with people insisting that he lived in the sewer drains and would hunt rats and scavenge for food at night. The Catman is easily identified by coal on his face and eyes that presumedly glow in the dark. Rumor spread about the origin of the Catman claiming that he was once a Russian sailor. According to the myth, the sailor entered a gang fight and became severely injured. He ended up with brain damage and broken legs. After suffering the effects of the assault and being unable to fully recover, the sailor reverted to primal tendencies. In a different myth, the Catman was an escaped mental hospital patient.
Though the Catman loosely serves as inspiration for the iconic creature, Raatma is certainly no normal man. Rather than having a human-like appearance, Raatma's head is oblong, with a massive jaw filled with rectangular teeth. Its eyes face forward, making Raatma a predator. From the front, Raatma's face is like that of a person, but it merely serves as an illusion. Once perceived from the side, it is revealed that the creature's mouth stretches far past the ends of the face, forming what almost looks like a strange snout. Raatma's eyes are beady and black, with long whiskers stretching out at its temples.
Raatma is completely nude and covered with matted fur. It has long spindly limbs, ending with claws. Raatma seems to crawl around rather than run or walk, which may also be inspired from the Catman. Its mouth secretes a strange black liquid, which the cult members depicted in the short film also seem to be able to do. This strange black goo is acidic, yet it has no effect on Raatma nor the cultists.
Keith Thompson, the creature designer, explained this liquid further. "It's this sort of inverted milk," Thompson told Bloody Disgusting. "This awful milk that gets all the cult to be reborn."
So, what is Raatma exactly?
To put it simply: a being from a different dimension.
“I’d always thought that it was something that came from another dimension and got stuck here. It wasn’t an actual God. It was just a thing that these people took it upon themselves to worship as a God." Okuna said.
We may never know exactly where Raatma came from, nor do we know its motives, but neither Thompson nor Okuna claim that it is anything bad. Raatma itself is a creature claimed to seek sympathy. It is struggling and the cultists are attempting to unlock its mysteries while simultaneously providing it with some level of care.
With that being said, hail Raatma.
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