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Interview: Edward Bluemel of ‘A Discovery of Witches’ [SPOILERS]

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Edward Bluemel

A Discovery of Witches, the hit series from SkyTV that has been exclusively streaming on Shudder and Sundance Now, will make its debut on BBC America and AMC on April 7, 2019.

Based on the All Souls Trilogy novels by author Deborah Harkness, the series imagines a world where vampires, witches, and daemons secretly live alongside humans. It’s a beautifully textured, timely story, and one that has drawn in viewers globally.

With its network premiere looming, one of the series’ many stars, British actor Edward Bluemel, sat down with iHorror to talk about the world of A Discovery of Witches and his experience in helping bring it to life.

The actor was completely over the moon about creating a role for the screen so different from anything he’d ever done before.

“In drama school, I did a lot of classical theater and my first TV role out of school was a period drama. It was all about accuracy, realism, and things like that,” he explained. “To do a fantasy is so lovely, really. It’s freeing and you’re in a world that doesn’t have those parameters. Also, playing a supernatural creature is a lot of fun.”

The supernatural creature Bluemel is referring to is Marcus Whitmore, vampiric son of Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), who finds himself working for his “father” in a lab deciphering the mysteries of creature DNA.

This melding of the fantastic and scientific is just one way in which the series roots the supernatural in reality noting that each “species” differentiates by only a couple of chromosome pairs.

For his part, Bluemel loved this convergence.

“It was amazing creating this world that you can actually believe exists,” he said. “This different twist on vampires and witches makes it feel fun and fresh. I love being a vampire and a scientist.”

Edward Bluemel Marcus and Miriam

Marcus (Edward Bluemel) and Miriam (Alysha Hart) work together with Matthew digging into the DNA of supernatural creatures in A Discovery of Witches. (Photo by Robert Viglasky)

He was also grateful to Harkness during the audition process. He went in with no prior knowledge of the trilogy, and had no idea that he had very little in common, physically, with the Marcus on the page.

Harkness was completely taken with the young actor and his audition.

“She said, ‘I don’t care what I’ve written, that’s the spirit of the character,'” he laughed. “I gave what I thought the character should be, and they agreed with me.”

Soon, the young actor found himself surrounded by a cast of talented actors, many of whom he’d admired for years. It was Alex Kingston, however, that gave him the most pause.

Among Kingston’s many credits is the iconic series Doctor Who, and Bluemel says that while he had no nerves while filming, he did have to remind himself to put his inner fanboy to the side during the scenes he shared with her.

Moreover, working with phenomenally talented actors made him more assured in his own craft.

“As soon as I get on set, they’re so assured and confident in what they do that it actually made it easier for me,” he explained.

That confidence came in handy, especially with Marcus’s introduction in the series which different and more violent than in the novel. It was also Bluemel’s first experience seeing real stunt work performed on a set.

In the scene, Marcus is walking home with a friend, and as they part ways, the friend is hit by a car which speeds away. As he lays dying in the street, Marcus looks around and then without warning attempts to turn the friend into a vampire to save his life.

The turning goes horribly wrong and he stares in horror as his friend dies, confused and bleeding out into the street. It was a bitterly sad moment, and one that, Bluemel adds, drives home the vampire’s reality.

“You see this and it’s suddenly real. The vampires are real. They’re dangerous and they’re volatile,” he said. “It’s messy. No part of it is comfortable and it’s important for the viewer to see that.”

Bluemel’s performance in the scene and in Marcus’s subsequent altercation with Matthew is both poignant and raw. It drives home just who Marcus is and how important and complicated his relationship with his vampiric father really is.

These kind of relationships and moments elevate the series, and makes for really great television.

If you still haven’t had the chance to see A Discovery of Witches, it will premiere on both AMC and BBC America on April 7, 2019 at 9 pm ET/PT. Check your local listings for details and prepare yourself to be blown away by this magnificent world.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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