We talked with Daemon Hillin Producer on the new horror film PERNICIOUS.

Benetone Films, one of Thailand’s most in-demand production hubs, recently got into the feature film distribution business. Their first release Pernicious is now available on VOD. We spoke to Benetone’s Daemon Hillin about how James Cullen Bressack’s latest film became their first horse out of the gate.

Was it always intended that Pernicious be the first film to go out under the new Benetone Films distribution label?

No it wasn’t. We weren’t even thinking about distributing through Benetone until after the film was completed, and we kept getting these really low ball MG’s. After hearing the same thing over and over, we decided that the only people that will put the love and passion into the film that we have is us. So we launched a distribution company!

Was part of the reasoning that horror films are seen as an easier sell than films of other genres?

We feel that horror is a universal language and all society’s can understand it. Being scared is being scared. This was really our first crack at a horror film and we really enjoyed it.

Pernicious is almost a good mix of genres though, wouldn’t you say? But you’ve decided to market it as straight-up horror film mostly – a’la The Ring.

Yes PERNICIOUS is a blend of concepts, torture and spirit. We haven’t seen this very much so we wanted to experiment and see how audiences might like it.

What was it about James Cullen Bressack that made him the right choice to direct this one?

James is a passionate talented young film maker. There is nothing he would rather do then make horror. The moment I heard him talk about Pernicious and after watching his first horror film My Pure Joy, I new that he was the right fit.

Did you spend much time on the set in Thailand? What kind of input did you have?

Yes, I spent almost 3 years of my life on this movie. This movie was made with a constant back and forth with me James, Kulthep and Rachvin. As for Thailand, I was there the whole time. One of my passions is making films in Thailand. I think it is one of the best places in the world to shoot movies.

Is Benetone releasing the film right around the world? That’s quite an undertaking!

We are currently releasing in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and we are now looking at Australia and New Zealand.

VOD seems to be the future, and more and more people seem to be getting into that. Is that why there’s no DVD release yet?

Yes we are selling all of our transaction VOD first then we will have our DVD release and then move onto all the subscription based platforms.

VOD has really changed the industry. I think that it will only get stronger.

What other types of films will Benetone be making?

We have quite a few titles that we are working on right now. We will have another Horror film that we shot in Thailand in January of 2015, coming out next year called Ghost House. It was directed by Rich Ragsdale and is starring Mark Boone Jr, Scout Taylor Compton and James Landry Hebert. There is also By the Rivers of Babylon that was directed by Albert Sandoval and is starring Crispin Glover, Connie Stevens, Mark Boone Jr, Joely Fisher and Adam Tomei. Our 1^st comedy we have will be Killing Winston Jones, Directed by Joel David Moore and starring Richard Drefus, Danny Glover, Jon Heder, Danny Masterson, Aly Michalka and Tyler Labine. All these films are set to be release for next year.

Interview With Daemon Hillin: PERNICIOUS Producer