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It looks like we'll be seeing a Bridgerton star trade the ballrooms of the ton for the blood-soaked battlefields of the Viking age, as Jessica Madsen joins Prime Video’s upcoming historical drama series Bloodaxe.

Madsen is best known for starring as Cressida Cowper in Netflix’s hit period drama Bridgerton, where she plays one of the ton’s most notorious gossipmongers and social climbers. At the end of season 3, we see her character banished to Wales to live with her aunt after causing much drama for Eloise and Penelope. While we don't know if she'll be returning for the fourth season, we now know that she'll be taking on a dramatically different role in Bloodaxe.

According to Variety, Madsen has been cast as Gunnhild, also known as the Mother of Kings. She is described as the wife of the Viking warrior Erik Bloodaxe, who will be portrayed by Xavier Molyneux...

Jessica Madsen has been cast in Prime Video’s Viking drama series “Bloodaxe” as Gunnhild, wife of the Viking raider Erik Bloodaxe.

The character of Gunnhild is also referred to as the Mother of Kings. As previously reported, Eric Bloodaxe will be played by Xavier Molyneux.

Madsen is known for playing Cressida Cowper in Netflix’s “Bridgerton.” As an antagonist in the “Bridgerton” world, Madsen’s character often spreads gossip regarding other debutantes. The actor has also appeared in the films “Leatherface” as Clarice, “Rambo: Last Blood” as Becky and “Dark Light” as Annie Knox.

The historical drama produced by MGM Television follows the couple’s ascent. “As they fight for the throne of Norway, the land is torn apart by fierce rivals, shifting loyalties, and bloody betrayals. With war looming and chaos consuming the kingdom, drawing in the ruthless Kings of other Scandinavian countries, and even a powerful English ruler,...

After experiencing the glamour of regency romance, Bridgerton's resident mean girl Cressida Cowper is about to trade in her ball gown for a battleaxe in Prime Video's new historical epic. Jessica Madsen has signed on to co-lead the Viking-centric Bloodaxe as the formidable "Mother of Kings," Gunnhild, one of the fabled figures of the Icelandic Sagas and the wife of one of history's most famous Norse raiders, Erik Bloodaxe. She joins the previously cast Xavier Molyneaux in the series, which is set to begin production later this summer in Iceland and Ireland. Michael Hirst, who created the acclaimed Vikings, is creating, writing, showrunning, and executive producing the series with Horatio Hirst.

Based on the true story of the Norse power couple, Bloodaxe chronicles the rise to power of Erik Bloodaxe, the eventual king of Norway, and Gunnhild, the queen who would give birth to multiple future rulers of the country in the years afterward.

Enotria: The Last Song is a terrific Soulslike title currently available for the PlayStation 5 and PC platforms later this month. Fans of the genre were eager to dive into this game while other major developers like FromSoftware are biding their time to make the next major installment. Countless developers dipped their toes into the Soulslike arena, given the surge of success, and the Xbox community is missing out on that experience; however, Mirari & Co is ready to fill the void with a unique Soulslike fusion.

The developers of Enotria: The Last Song cite the lack of communication with Microsoft for delaying the Xbox port. Image Credit: Jyamma Games

Losing one Soulslike title opened the door for another much more ambitious game to take its place. The Xbox platform is finally catching up to the players PlayStation 5 and PC with a new game coming later this month.

The Xbox Community...

Fifteen films have been selected as finalists in this year’s Juree Awards Singapore 2021, an annual festival of short films that celebrates and supports filmmaker communities in Asia.

The 15 shortlisted finalists comprise independent filmmakers whose submitted short films spanned a range of diverse genres including comedy, family drama, documentaries, animation and more. Beyond genre though, among the finalists this year are compelling stories that bravely tackle difficult social issues: “A Waking” by Clare Chong, “Dark Light” by Vikneshwaran Silva, and “Booking” by Haziq Adam De Silva for example, explore social themes and issues such as sexual harassment, migrant workers and the red light industry.

Whereas dark comedy, “The Greatest Adventure to Nowhere” by Wind Loke and Kylen Ho – who took the ‘Best Screenplay’ prize at last year’s National Youth Film Awards (Nyfa) – takes a look at friendship and death through the eyes of a 7 year old. This year’s...

While 2019’s home media releases ended on a quiet note, taking off the week of Christmas and New Year’s, this first Tuesday of 2020 is more than making up for it with an array of titles that should delight horror and sci-fi fans of all tastes. In terms of recent films, both Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, Travis Stevens’ Girl on the Third Floor are making their way to Blu-ray and DVD this week, Michael Beach Nichols' documentary Wrinkles the Clown is coming to DVD from Magnet Releasing, and Scream Factory is releasing Larry Fessenden’s take on Frankenstein—Depraved—as well.

Kino is showing some love to the sci-fi classic Doctor Cyclops, and Rlje Films is keeping busy with both The Shed and The Nightshifter this Tuesday. Other notable releases for January 7th include Trespassers, Cosmos, Dark Encounter, Mermaid Down, Savage Creatures, and Dark Light.

Depraved

The legend of Frankenstein...

Exclusive: U.S. indie distributor Vertical Entertainment is launching a genre-leaning UK distribution arm during the American Film Market.

The slate for 2020 will include Polaroid, previously of Dimension Films; Ld Entertainment’s re-make Jacob’s Ladder; Xyz Films’ Code 8; Peter Facinelli-directed mystery thriller Hour Of Lead; Freida Pinto and Leslie Odom Jr. sci-fi film Only; and Skylin3s, the third installment in the Skyline franchise.

Also among the slate will be genre fare including Rock Paper Dead, Dark Light, Inmate Zero, The Host, True Fiction, Bit, and crime thriller Blood On Her Name starring Will Patton (Armageddon).

Vertical partners Rich Goldberg, Mitch Budin, and Peter Jarowey made the announcement. Vertical’s Head of international Sales, Ryan Keller, and Josh Spector, Vice President, Acquisitions & Distribution, will be overseeing the acquisitions strategy for the territory. Releases will be predominantly aimed at premium VOD.

Vertical will also handle all English-speaking rights for Polaroid,...

Luigi is back at it again with his ghostbusting vacuum cleaner. Despite its title, Luigi’s Mansion 3 sees the less popular plumber fighting ghosts and solving puzzles as he ascends a hotel to find and free his trapped brother and friends. He must explore each uniquely-themed area to unlock the elevator button, taking him to the next floor up until he reaches the very top.

Luigi’s Mansion 3, developed by the same studio that created Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, continues the legacy of the series while building upon it. The development team expands on the franchise’s tried-and-tested gameplay while adding new, interesting mechanics and showcasing clever puzzles and boss designs. Each new level is its own adventure, and the variety between each means there isn’t a single dull moment to be had.

The game utilizes the Strobulb and Dark Light mechanics from Dark Moon while introducing new...

Stars: Jessica Madsen, Opal Littleton, Ed Brody, Kristina Clifford | Written and Directed by Padraig Reynolds

Back in 2012 I saw Padraig Reynolds’ debut feature Rites of Spring at Glasgow Frightfest, then in 2015 I caught his film Worry Dolls – again at Frightfest. Unfortunately I missed last years Open 24 Hours, however I was determined to see Reynolds’ latest, Dark Light, on the big screen at Frightfest. Being a huge fan of those two aforementioned films there was no way I was passing up the chance to see yet another slice of Reynolds’ particular style of horror.

Such a shame then that Dark Light felt totally derivative of Devil’s Gate, whch played in the exact same screen as Reynolds’ film back at Frightfest in 2017…

Dark Light tells the story of Annie Knox who, following a split from her husband, the death of her mother and a nervous breakdown returns to her remote family...

In his latest Arrow Video Frightfest 2019 preview podcast, host Stuart Wright talks Dark Light with the films writer/director – and firm Nerdly filmmaking favourite – Padraig Reynolds.

Annie Knox returns to her remote family home after a divorce, the death of her mother and a nervous breakdown. But something lurks in the walls and bowels of the house and wants her daughter Emily in their clutches. Soon Annie must take on a thought-to-be extinct humanoid race whose need to feast on human inner light makes them a very dangerous nemesis indeed.

Catch the film at Arrow Video Frightfest

22th to 26th August 2018

Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7Na.

Programme listings and film details www.frightfest.co.uk/2019films/index.html...

This year marks the festival’s 20th anniversary.

This year’s FrightFest, the annual UK genre festival, has unveiled a line-up that features 20 world premieres including films from the Soska Sisters (American Mary) and Tom Paton (Black Site).

The Soska Sisters, Jen and Sylvia, are screening their second feature Rabid, their re-imagining of David Cronenberg’s 1977 film. Paton’s Stairs is a sci-fi horror about a special ops squad that find themselves trapped on a never-ending stairwell.

Also screening are Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by André Øvredal’s, and Crawl,...

The UK’s biggest and boldest horror and fantasy film festival, Frightfest, is celebrating its 20th bloody year. This year Arrow Video FrightFest 2019 is back at the Cineworld Leicester Square and The Prince Charles Cinema from August 22 – August 26; and will be hosting a record-breaking Seventy-eight(!) films, embracing fourteen countries and spanning six continents, this year’s five-day fear-a-thon includes 20 World, 20 International / European and 28 UK Premieres.

From the press release:

As previously announced, this year’s festivities begin with the UK premiere of Ant Timpson’s deviously edgy stunner Come To Daddy, starring Elijah Wood and reaches its bloody conclusion with the World premiere of Abner Pastoll’s superbly crafted crime story, A Good Woman Is Hard To Find. Other main screen international attractions include producer Guillermo del Toro and director André Øvredal’s Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, producer Sam Raimi and director Alexandre Aja’s gruesome ‘gator yarn Crawl,...

"It sounds like there is someone inbetween the walls." Spotlight Pictures has debuted the first sales promo trailer for the sci-fi horror film Dark Light, from writer/director Padraig Reynolds. The film is currently being sold at the Efm and they're looking to find a distributor, in addition to a festival to debut this film at. Dark Light is a horror creature feature about some kind of monster (potentially an alien being?) that takes a young girl from her bedroom while at her mother's childhood farm home. She goes crazy trying to find her and figure out what happened, while attempting to convince police that an actual creature took her. Starring Jessica Madsen, Ed Brody, Opal Littleton, and Ben Sullivan. This looks scary as hell, including the typical cornfield trope, but still. I'm glad the trailer shows a glimpse of the monster because it looks gnarly. Here's the festival promo...