Time Does Not Heal: The Old Woman with the Knife (2025) Review

Director: Min Kyu-dong

Notable Cast: Lee Hye-young, Kim Sung-cheol, Yeon Woo-jin, Kim Moo-yul, Shin Sia, Kim Kang-woo, Choi Moo-seong, Ok Ja-yeon, Lee Hyun-gul

 

In a world where there is one to two “old man with a sordid past kicks ass” movies released a month, it’s nice to know that there will occasionally be an “old woman with a sordid past kicks ass” movie that gets released. However, in the case of The Old Woman with the Knife, the latest South Korean action thriller to hit the States from our friends at Well Go USA, it’s less about an aging killer being pulled back in and more about an aging killer reckoning with their role in their own life. With a strong sense of visual pizzazz, some impressively brutal action set pieces, and a positively riveting performance from Lee Hye-young, The Old Woman with the Knife is a sizzling slice of assassin cinema, even if the plot can get in the way of the story at times.

 

The Old Woman with the Knife establishes its plot and characters in provocative ways. A cinematic world of assassins is always fun to explore, and especially over the last decade or so, thanks to John Wick, movies have been having fun creating fantastic scenarios around killers and their deeds. In this universe, there is a group of assassins that act as “pest control” and eliminate the ill-gotten pests that infect our society. It’s a relatively small group, well-trained and well-equipped to get the job done, that follows their stringent guidelines about their work.

 

Freelance and Fantastical Work: A Working Man (2025) Review

Director: David Ayer

Notable Cast: Jason Statham, Michael Peña, David Harbour, Noemi Gonzalez, Jason Flemyng, Merab Ninidze, Maximilian Osinski, Cokey Falkow, Arianna Rivas, Isla Gie, Emmett Scanlan, Eve Mauro

 

By the film's end, A Working Man is a full-on fantasy where the realistic tones of its first half have entirely ceased to exist for a truly unhinged world. To the point that the location of its final action set piece looks like a Mario Bava soundstage. The fake-looking trees and a moon that looks like it's only 18 feet away set the tone for its physics-shattering action and brutal deaths. Ah, yes, this is precisely what I wanted. Action films are mostly fantasy films, and the final act embraces that aspect, if not the entire latter half. 

 

A part of me wishes the entire film were within this caliber of action cinema. When A Working Man is trying to be a heartfelt and grounded thriller that sees Statham's Levon attempting to rescue the daughter of his boss, the film struggles to find its footing in the tropes. What made the previous outing between star, Statham and director, Ayer, The Beekeeper work so well is that none of it felt like it needed to be grounded in the world we live in - just the world that the characters lived in. A Working Man spends far too much time trying to make us believe we're watching a gritty crime drama before shedding preconceptions and embracing the Cannon insanity of its finale. And when it does, it is precisely what this film needed to be. 

 

Get Stitches - Yadang: The Snitch (2025) Review

Director: Hwang Byeng-gug

Notable Cast: Kang Ha-neul, Yoo Hai-jin, Park Hae-jun, Ryu Kyung-soo, Chase Won-been, You Seong-joo, Kim Keum-soon, Lim Sung-kyun

 

Although South Korea continues to dominate the market for phenomenally great crime capers, that doesn’t mean that every film that makes it to the US will be a gut-punch of entertainment. 

 

On paper, Yadang: The Snitch sounds like it will rank right up there with some of the best crime caper blockbusters. It features a relatively stacked cast, slick action sequences, and one of those “keep ‘em guessing” narratives I thoroughly enjoy. To a certain degree, Yadang does have those aspects, and for many viewers, that’s enough to warrant a viewing and thorough enjoyment. Yet, the film is also bogged down by an unwieldy plot, tonal inconsistencies, and issues in some of its themes that undermine its overall experience. Take it for its charms and it’s a great time. Try to start digging a bit more, and the entire scheme tends to crumble a bit. 

 

Panic Fest 2025: Self Driver (2024) Review

Director: Michael Pierro

Notable Cast: Nathanael Chadwick, Reece Presley, Lauren Welchner, Christian Aldo, Harold Tausch

 

I’m not sure that companies like Uber or Lyft would appreciate the terms' Uber Horror” or “Lyft Horror,” but I’m unsure what else would be more fitting for a film like Self Driver. Saturated in a luscious score, lo-fi and drastically intimate camera shots, and a tense build that ends up sucking its viewers in, Michael Pierro’s Self Driver is the kind of indie thriller darlings that always end up cutting through during a film festival. It’s niche enough that it might be a harder sell for distributors if it gets picked up for a more significant release, but it’s the kind of strange and off-kilter film that we strive to find at Blood Brothers Film Reviews. It’s nuanced genre cinema of the best type and will definitely be a highlight of Panic Fest 2025. 

 

Told almost exclusively from the car of the ‘VRMR’ driver—again, think of it as the equivalent of Uber or Lyft—Self Driver is the kind of intimate thriller one only finds in the indie sector. Mostly that’s because Self Driver needs to be ultra-confident to pull off the narrative, and it absolutely is. 

 

Panic Fest 2025: The Only Ones (2024) Review

Director: Jordan Miller

Notable Cast: Tatiana Nya Ford, Emily Classen, Zach Ruchkin, Paul Cottman, Cayla Berejikian, Christopher Inlow, Jeb Aufiero, Nancy Anne Ridder, Jim Krut, Matt Burns

 

First, there was the meta-slasher. Scream and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare took the slasher blueprint, spun it just a smidge, and then let it run for a new era built on an audience - and its characters - knowing how a slasher trope works. But now we’re in a new era that goes beyond self-referencing slashers, like the previously mentioned Craven efforts. We’re in the meta-meta-slasher era. 

 

Although dissecting how the meta-meta-slasher works would reveal some surprises and spoilers for newer films, such as Bodies Bodies Bodies from A24, it's the most apt way to express the experience of The Only Ones. At its core, this indie horror film flirts with dark comedy and other horror subgenres as it progresses, but it owes its soul to the slasher genre through and through. For fans of the slice ‘em and dice ‘em horror genre, The Only Ones ought to carry enough kills and spins to earn a viewing, but it does require some insight into the genre to be fully effective. 

 

Panic Fest 2025: Beyond the Drumlins (2025) Review

 

Director: Daniel W. Bowhers

Notable Cast: Michael Kowalski, Emma Jessop, Dan Titmuss, Goodfella Mike G, Julia Kerr, Braford Selby, Ed Contini, Simone Boone

A few years ago, one of the prominent thematic trends in horror centered on “nature horror” or “earth horror.” Films like Gaia and In the Earth focused on how people caught in rural settings confronted the horrors of nature (sometimes with a slightly supernatural twist). So, when Beyond the Drumlins, the debut feature film from writer/director Daniel W. Bowhers, began down that path, it reminded us just how fleeting that trend was and how effective it can still be.

 

Beyond the Drumlins' conceptual horrors linger with its audience after the film ends. An archaeological professor, Dr. Rust, and his team venture into a rural area deep in the woods to find a spot for his future class to test their skills. Upon reaching their destination, they discover that the area has a sinister effect on them. Surrealist horror unfolds as members fall under the influence of the surrounding forest. Classic.

 

Panic Fest 2025: Stalkers (2025) Review

Director: Paul Thompson

Notable Cast: Olivia Stadler, Scarlett DiCaro, Hannah Mae Beatty, Allisha Pelletier, Same Wexler, Abbas Wahab, Marlo Aquilina

 

Far be it from me to have too many expectations going into a film festival, but I certainly did not expect what I got from Stalkers. On paper, Stalkers sounds like the classic slasher. Littered with exploitative elements, like having the lead character be a porn star, and then powering its horror elements with a whodunnit style narrative, the film felt like it was going to be cheesy, slashery entertaining through and through. Yet, as Stalkers plays out, it often rejects leaning into any exploitation elements and aims for something far more dramatic and, dare I say, better, for its material. 

 

Stalkers has something to say with its themes within the slasher premise, and never truly embraces the genre until its final act. It’s a surprisingly reflective and character-driven drama at its heart that just so happens to end up being a slasher. It’s perhaps one of the biggest surprises at Panic Fest 2025 already. 

 

Poetic Horror Justice: The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) Review

Director: Kenji Misumi

Notable Cast: Kazuo Hasegawa, Yasuko Nakada, Yoko Uraji, Mieko Kondo, Joji Tsurumi, Naritoshi Hayashi, Hideo Takamatsu

 

Although the story that The Ghost of Yotsuya is based on has been around for what feels like since the beginning of time, of which there is a nice little documentary on that subject on the Radiance release of this film, it’s this 1959 version that really perked my interested. Why? What could make this version stand out against the slew of other adaptions? Director Kenji Misumi. The notable director had crafted some of the greatest samurai and action films of all time - working on notable franchises like Lone Wolf and Cub, Zatoichi, and Sleepy Eyes of Death just to name some of the biggest ones - but he rarely dabbled in the horror realm.

Thus, I needed to add Radiance’s Daiei Gothic box set to my collection, which featured this adaption of The Ghost of Yotsuya. It was worth it, too, because this version is a lush and often haunting film, complete with a wild third act, an impressive build of tension, and some gorgeous visuals to go with it. Although, at times, this feels like Misumi at some of his most restrained, it’s such a well-crafted film that showcases his understanding of build and atmosphere that any Japanese horror fan will want to watch it. 

 

Objection Sustained: The Prosecutor (2025) Review

Director: Donnie Yen

Notable Cast: Donnie Yen, Julian Cheung Chi Lam, Michael Hui, Francis Ng Chun Yu, Cheung Tin Fu

 

Although Donnie Yen has been the face of Hong Kong cinema since his career went astronomical with the Ip Man franchise, his return to the director’s chair with 2023’s Sakra elevated him to the next level. While the wuxia film was met with many mixed reactions from fans (I felt the film was a massively underrated modern classic, but I digress), it created many new avenues for the action icon to follow for the next part of his career.

The Prosecutor, his directorial follow-up and a wholly different action film than its predecessor, proves that not only does Donnie Yen have the goods as an action star at 60 years old, but his directorial career is very, very bright. Sporting a mixture of dramatic legal thrills and vicious action beatdowns, The Prosecutor balances Yen’s penchant for punching someone as hard as a shotgun blast with a more mature dramatic angle. The modern sensibilities will appeal to a larger demographic than Sakra, particularly those who love Yen’s cops n’ robbers flicks like Raging Fire, Flashpoint, or SPL. Yeah, that’s absolutely a great thing. Case dismissed. 

 

His Name is Ahn Jung-geun: Harbin (2024) Review

Director: Woo Min-ho

Notable Cast: Hyun Bin, Park Jeong-min, Jeon Yeo-been, Jo Woo-jin, Lee Dong-wook

History is an infinite source of inspiration to the culture at large, shaping civilizations into what they are today; the influence of the past is something that shapes current-day mindsets the world over. South Korea has had a very tumultuous and challenging past like many other nations, and so it is no surprise that various mediums would look back to inspire their own telling of stories from yesteryear. Film is a massive avenue for retelling slices of history, and of course, just like the figureheads explored in these works or the very events being depicted within them, there always comes talks of propaganda or skewing facts to fit personal or political narratives. 

To say that a film, such as Harbin, is subject to finding itself outside of historians or politically fueled conversations from being had would be foolish, but to say that a film with a subject matter like this cannot be entertaining would also be to discredit a film as such. I went into this one with certain expectations, given that I am a huge fan of director Woo Min-ho and his previous works. In fact, his work prior to this, The Man Standing Next, also takes a piece of political history, albeit more modern than the events that unfolded in Harbin station that fateful day; suffice to say, director Woo has really become one who has a knack for telling these stories through cinema. So, how does this stack up to Woo Min-ho's previous works? Honestly, I think it fairs quite well, and of course, with these types of movies in general, I think the mileage will vary from person to person.