Dark Rising 'rocking the streets with demons'

If Sudbury native Brigitte Kinglsey has her way, and she will, “we'll be rocking the streets with demons.”

Kingsley stars as half-human, half-demon, all butt-kicking demon warrior Summer Vale in the upcoming five episode series Dark Rising: Warrior of Worlds, currently being filmed in downtown Sudbury.

This latest instalment of the Dark Rising project will be a one-hour sci-fantasy television series that follows a group of “clear humans” in a clouded new world, according to information from the production company, Black Walk. The tether that binds Earth with a parallel demonic dimension has collapsed, creating a new reality for both humans and demons and leaving most beings with altered memories.

The magical bind has shifted reality and only a small group of clear humans remember the past. In order to save the world, they band together to unravel the mystery behind the shift and battle to take down the mystical forces that have doomed their world.

Sudbury native Brigitte Kingsley is seen running into the Elgin Street underpass while filming a scene for Dark Rising: Warrior of Worlds. Photo by Arron Pickard.

This is the fourth project under the Dark Rising banner. Kingsley said it all started in 2006 with the filming of Dark Rising, where a weekend camping trip turns into a frantic fight against the supernatural when an ancient demon and a fearsome female warrior (played by Kingsley) bring their eternal battle into the present day.

“It was a small movie, but it just kept growing and growing,” Kingsley said.

Dark Rising was nominated for a record six Canadian Comedy Awards in 2008, in the categories of best writing (Andrew Cymek), best direction (Cymek), best actress (Kingsley and Julia Schneider) and best actor (Landy Cannon and Jason Reso), but did not win any.

“We did a sequel in 2009 and a small TV series. This time around, it's a bigger TV series comprised of five one-hour episodes.”

In order to accommodate the filming, Durham Street in downtown Sudbury was closed off for parts of the day, and one lane on Elgin Street was also closed off as Kingsley's character chases the leading male character, Jason Parks, down the road and into the underpass stairs. Oh yeah, and there will be giant computer-generated “KRABBS” added later.

Throughout the rest of filming, the cast and crew will be using Science North and a local mine, among other locations. The plot calls for a demon-possessed nickel mine owner who is more interested in digging up an ancient relic that would open a door to another world than the precious metal.

For Kingsley, this latest project afforded her the opportunity to come home. Her parents still live in Greater Sudbury, and her best friend also calls the Nickel Capital home.

“We shot in North Bay in 2009, and we wanted to come back, because everyone is just so great and so supportive,” she said.

Her co-star, Mike “Nug” Nahrgang, said the entire cast and crew of the Dark Rising project is happy to be back in northern Ontario.

Dark Rising: Warrior of Worlds will be bringing some big Canadian names to Sudbury including Colin Mochrie and Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall, he said.

Nahrgang plays Bulo, “very much the comic relief” of the series, he said.

Since arriving in Sudbury, he said he's already had a few brief moments to visit some of what the city has to offer. An fan of comic books, he made sure he went to Comics North – in full costume and make-up, too. In fact, residents will likely be able to catch him and Mochrie on “new comic book” days.

“We're going to be up here for most of the summer,” Nahrgang said. “We're bringing a whole bunch of fun people into Sudbury.”

Posted by Arron Pickard