Hammered in the Neck: Hammer's Dracula Franchise Part II

There is a beauty, style, and look to classic Hammer horror films that only that studio contains. There are only a handful of times in the history of cinema that a studio has defined themselves so steadfast, even when they experiment, one can immediately tell who made it by the style and tone. Hammer is one of those. For this latest franchise article, we were asked to cover some of the major Hammer studio releases and it seemed only fitting to start with the one that most people recognize: Dracula. Spanning multiple decades, the Dracula series is often times as iconic as the original Universal series and it certainly helped solidify both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as genre cornerstones. Truthfully, it was a pleasure to be asked to go back and watch this franchise once again and write this series of articles. Not that my words do it much justice, but even if I can inspire one to revisit the films, then I will have done my duty.

Due to the length of this franchise, it only made sense to split it up into multiple articles to prevent having one massive piece that people will tire of reading by the time they reach the third or fourth film. Since there are nine entries, it made sense to evenly split the articles into three films each. For this second part of the article, we will be covering the fourth, fifth, and sixth entries into the series.

EXCLUSIVE MOVIE CLIP: River (2016) - "On the Run"

Well Go USA has always been on the cutting edge of bringing the best of new Asian films to the US, but lately they have been digging into some great underground and artistic genre films. Their latest release, the atmospheric thriller River, has already done the rounds at some film festivals (including the Toronto International Film Festival, which is always a great sign) and it will be making a splash for some limited theatrical showings along with the usual VOD release.

Today, Blood Brothers has the EXCLUSIVE premiere of a new clip from the film called “On the Run” and it looks to capitalize on some great suspense and tension from the Laos set thriller from director Jamie M. Dagg. Check out the clip embedded below and look for our review for River tomorrow!

River is available on VOD through a variety of outlets and it premieres in a handful of theaters today around the United States! Check out the list of theatrical showings and get some information about the film at the following link: RIVER WELL GO USA SITE. 

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Into the Well: Is the Ringu Franchise Still Relevant?

When The Ring came out back in 2002, I was hooked. I was in high school, I was a horror movie fanatic, and I couldn’t get enough of atmosphere and concept. It was scary, smart, and most of all – timely. It combined familiar ghost story elements with the unfamiliar tones of a blooming J Horror trend and I loved it. I quickly sought out the original Ringu at the video stores (requiescat in pace) and I have been a fan since. Granted, it’s been years since I revisited the franchise and its various spin offs, reboots, and forgotten sequels, but with the recent announcement of a third American film Rings, a new Japanese film in Sadako Vs Kayoko, and some requests from our readers for more J Horror material, I decided it was time to go back and look at one of the strangest and overly complicated franchises that horror has ever seen and examine why this series is still relevant today despite some odd turns in quality.