Exclusive: Gehenna Producer Saik Meng Kee on the Challenges of His Role and What the Future Holds
Jonathan Barkan
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Yesterday, we posted an interview with Gehenna director Hiroshi Katagiri. Today, we’re speaking with producer Saik Meng Kee about the challenges of producing a film like this, what he sees in the future of Katagiri, and what his own future plans hold. You can read the interview below.
Gehenna stars Patrick Gorman, Simon Phillips, Katherine Wallace, Eva Swan, Sean Sprawling, Justin Gordon, Matthew Edward Hegstrom, and Doug Jones with a cameo appearance by Lance Henriksen.
Synopsis:
Five people travel to the remote, pristine Pacific island of Saipan to scout locations for their company’s new luxury resort. They find curious natives, strange dolls, and learn of historic curses, but they finally find an ideal spot.
On this spot is a cave – and when they enter, what appears to be a Japanese WWII bunker turns out to be much more, and they learn that curiosity can kill, that everyone has private secrets and inner demons, and that there are some places on Earth where death itself can live….
Dread Central: Horror is often a great way to get a director’s name out there but it’s also a rather saturated market, especially with the explosion of various distribution methods. What was it about Gehenna that you made you say, “Yes, I want to be a part of this”?
Saik Meng Kee: The first thing that caught my eye was the picture of the Old Man on the Gehenna poster. It is probably the creepiest Old Man I’ve ever seen, so detailed and so textured. Secondly, when I found out that Hiroshi used to be the creature designer for Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro, it was a done deal for me. When I looked at his creature portfolio, they are so well-crafted and beautiful, which includes his work in HellBoy, that made me feel that Gehenna is going to go somewhere. Thirdly, I was looking for a film with potential to be a franchise, and that includes games. When I saw the creature designs and the Gehenna mythology, I could see that this will translate well into an immersive VR game.
DC: What challenges did you face being the producer of a film that relied so heavily upon practical FX?
SMK: I did not have any challenge in producing the film. The challenge is in creating awareness for this very unique film!
Gehenna is unique in so many ways. It is an English film with Japanese-style horror and with lots of old school-practical FX. On top of that, it was shot in Saipan, in which not many movie has been shot there. If you know Saipan, it is very beautiful but it also has a very dark World War 2 history. If we look at some of the great franchises like Saw or Paranormal Activity, they have very clear and unique horror-propositions. And Gehenna has that, with its very own creature style and mind-bending atmospheric horror.
Saik Meng Kee (middle) and fellow Gehenna cast and crew
DC: This was Hiroshi’s first feature-length film. Now that you’ve seen him in action with something so intense, what do you think the future holds for him?
SMK: I’ve seen so many first-time directors’ film debuts, Gehenna is one of the strongest I’ve ever seen. With strong directing style and wickedly-detailed creature design skills, I am sure Hiroshi’s best is yet to come. I definitely want to see Gehenna sequels!
DC: You’re also a producer on the upcoming thriller Like Lambs. What can you tell us about that film?
SMK: The production duo behind Like Lambs, Ted Marcus and John Kassab, are two crazy talented individuals. They wanted to make a movie about economic collapse that scares people! Again, the unique proposition is very strong, I just think it is a movie that will resonate very strongly today in the current economic and political climate.
DC: What does the future hold in store for you?
SMK: I am really excited in exploring VR as a medium at the moment. I’ve just launched the first free roaming multiplayer VR Park in South East Asia, that was developed by Havson Group, a tech startup. We see this market growing very rapidly in the very near future. Steven Spielberg has invested into Dreamscape Immersive. FoxNext has announced that they will be developing an Alien VR Arcade. I think it is a very interesting medium to bridge the Silicon Valley-Hollywood talents.
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