“Beta Test”, from producer/writer/director Nicholas Gyeney, is a sci-fi action thriller that’s “a cross between the intimate suspense of Die Hard and the 21st century chaos of Gamer”. It looks terrific.

The film’s storyline revolves around Max Troy (Larenz Tate), a Seattle-based video game champion and game tester who is about to test the latest game sensation from global video game juggernaut, Sentinel. As Max begins his procedural dissection of the game, he begins to realize this new game is not like any other. As Max completes new tasks, events in the real world begin to mirror them. Soon, Max uncovers a deep-rooted conspiracy from within the walls of Sentinel, which leads him to discover that the game’s protagonist, Orson Creed (Manu Bennett), is a real man, in the real world. If Max can somehow join forces with Creed, together they may have a chance at unraveling this conspiracy before the tasks in the game escalate and overwhelm their city.

Veteran film and TV star Linden Ashby plays the film’s villain. We caught up the amiable actor to talk about his devilish new role.