An ancient demon takes the form of a glamorous supermodel in Inherit, a Thai horror film that screened in the Open Cinema section of this year’s Busan International Film Festival. Starring Davika Hoorne, a spokesperson for L’Oréal and brand ambassador for Gucci, as an 800-year-old centipede demon, the movie is a polished, seductive, and funny version of a well-known Thai story.
Inherit has its share of violence and gore, but what sets it apart is its intensely sexual tone. As the demon Woranart, Hoorne seduces everyone in sight: men, women, boys, girls, relatives, strangers, all while dressed in the slinkiest outfits imaginable.
Director Banjong Pisanthanakun made his reputation with horror hits like Shutter (20004), but has also helmed comedies, romances, and Pee Mak (2013), one of Thailand’s highest-grossing films. He and Horne talked about adapting a familiar story for modern tastes, about how far they were willing to go in terms of sex and gore, and about holding onto an audience through knifings, decapitations, and death-by-insect.
We spoke after their film received a rousing reception at Busan’s 3000-seat outdoor theater.
The Film Stage: Can you talk about combining ancient traditions with modern elements like smartphones and shopping malls?
Banjong Pisanthanakun: This is adapted from one of the most well-known stories in Thailand, a novel called Tayard Asoon (“The Demon’s Heir”) by Tri Aphirum. It’s already been made into three different TV series. I remember watching the first version more than 30 years ago. It was very scary, but my impressions of it now are faded. The CGI is maybe a bit outdated.
This is the first feature film version. What I felt was that the grandmother, Woranart, has to appear to be very modern. I had a very clear vision of her wearing a bikini, sunbathing by the pool in the beginning of the story, with a centipede tattoo on her arm. I wondered, “What if this character is living now, when we have cell phones and TikTok and everything?” I thought that would make the story really fun.
Every single version of the story has this crazy scene, a vomit ritual. It’s become iconic. I felt with the CGI we have now it could be great. I wanted the movie to look a bit like the past, but with everything taking place in the present. So I shot it like an old-time horror film, using zoom lenses and other techniques from the past.
How did you develop Woranart’s character?
Well, she’s a demon, right? But that can’t be the whole story. We tried to write her so she wasn’t that scary, she’s more fun, a little crazy. We have her dressing in lavish clothes. Every outfit looks like it came out of a fashion catalogue.
She’s the most seductive demon imaginable. In a way a little like Disney’s Cruella.
Actually, the reference that I sent Davika was Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Very sexy, but funny, too, in the way she manipulates every single character in the film.
I’m curious how far you can take the action. Do you have restrictions on the kind of violence you can show?
Not really. I felt this version should be really crazy, especially at the climax. I wanted Woranart to be totally nuts. Very different from the other three versions. And I didn’t want it to be like my previous horror films. This one should go: horror, action, crazy, funny, something like that. I pushed the limits of action and gore. Blood will be splattering in your face.
Inherit works so well because you build an enveloping, hot-house atmosphere.
As I said, it’s not in the past or the present. The art direction of the house where the Orlan family lives, where most of the action takes place, was crucial. The family’s very wealthy, but we chose an old-money house. It’s not modern architecture, modern furniture. Very old, the type of house where you find guns and mounted trophies on the walls. That made the atmosphere more haunting.
Banjong Pisanthanakun
Did you shoot on actual locations?
Mostly yes, but we did have two studio sets. The Orlan family house was a combination of several houses. Two for indoor scenes, I think three for scenes outside the house. The street scenes were locations, and the shopping mall.
They let you kill people in the shopping mall?
We used a mix of two malls. One for when they’re walking among customers. When we kill the man on the escalator, we used an abandoned mall.
We tried to rely on practical stunts rather than effects, although the centipedes were CGI.
Davika Hoorne: The ghost you see at one point is me. That old hag. It took seven hours to apply the makeup, and then you only see her for a few seconds.
All the men in the story are terrible.
BP: That’s in the novel. It’s against the patriarchy.
DH: So Grandma does the right thing.
We all inherit a flawed patriarchal system. But do the men in the story deserve to die?
BP: It’s their karma.
DH: Woranart’s backstory is that 800 years ago this family did something really bad to her. Most foreigners don’t know that story, but all Thais know it. There’s dialogue in the film that hints about what happened to me, the grandma, but it’s never explained exactly. All we know is that I keep haunting the family over and over again, for generations. I don’t have any plans to go anywhere else.
The father, a factory owner, exploited his workers and killed many of them through toxins. The eldest son is a pedophile. Even Tat, the boyfriend, all he’s trying to do is have sex with the daughter.
DH: That’s teenager stuff, that’s what they do. I just keep an eye on them.
He still gets beaten to a pulp.
DH: That is part of my plan, too.
BP: Because the inheritor has to be a virgin.
The Thai audience already knows that part?
BP: No, our ending is new. It’s not the same as the one in the book.
DH: I was supposed to “inherit” her mom, but my sister helped her get away. I disappear for 15 years, then come back to inherit the mother’s daughter. To do that, I have to wait for her menses and then vomit my centipede into her.
What did your first victim do to deserve her grisly death? She’s walking down a street after a night of drinking, and you force her to dunk her face into a deep fryer.
DH: I was just passing by and felt hungry.
Do you prefer playing good or evil?
DH: Both. I’m blessed playing this character. It’s fun when you sit on top and look down on all the people whose minds you will be playing with. Normally I’m the one who always obeys, someone passive. It’s fun doing this character once in a while, especially because there aren’t many roles like this in Thailand.
How many outfits do you wear? I lost count after a dozen.
DH: So many outfits. You know the gold one? I work with Gucci, and they were kind enough to send that dress for grandma. It cost some three million baht [$90,000]. The outfits help us a lot to create the character. A lot of the inspiration for the outfits came from Banjong, and the stylist. Actually, all the characters’ looks came from Banjong. He’s very fashionable. He knew exactly the look he wanted for Grandma. There are a few iconic outfits in the movie. I think this Halloween you will be able to dress as me.
Was there another film character you drew inspiration from?
DH: Banjong sent me a lot of references. I had to pick and choose what to use. One was Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, in the way he manipulated people. Also, the centipede is actually a man, so I had to learn how a man uses his eyes when a girl comes into the room. Lecter does it by remaining still, but we can’t take our eyes off him.
Would you like to work in other genres besides horror?
BP: I’ve done romcoms, I’ve done domestic comedies, horror comedies. Pee Mak, one of my biggest films, was a comedy. Hello Stranger was a romance.
Davika, what kinds of roles are you looking for?
DH: I like to take risks. In my last project I played a vacuum cleaner (A Useful Ghost). The way I choose to work, it’s not just about the project. It’s about the environment and the people. The director, screenwriter, all the crew. The first thing is the script. If you ask me about genre, there’s nothing specific.
Can you break down a scene? You send the young son Rangsan under the house to gather soil that will be used in a spell against Woratan. A corpse crawls out of the dirt to attack him.
BP: We shot that in a day in the studio. We storyboarded it first. The basement ceiling above we added later with CGI, so we could position the camera for an overhead shot. We hired an acrobat to play the corpse, so we could film those weird moves he makes. I think we did about ten takes. It all builds up to that jump scare. The audience outside really responded to that moment.
Inherit screened at the 2026 Busan International Film Festival.
The post Davika Hoorne and Banjong Pisanthanakun on Crafting Their Seductive Thai Horror Hit Inherit first appeared on The Film Stage.
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