In a Violent Nature (2024)


In a Violent Nature is inspired by the classic slasher films but comes at the genre from a literally different angle.  The only movie I can really think that it is similar to in concept, but much different in style and execution, is Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.  In that we see a couple of actual nice guys that are mistaken for psychopathic killers, thus seeing things from their side rather than the random teenagers that get mutilated in creative ways, albeit in that case it is comedy.  Here it is mostly serious, although some of the kills have some dark humor, but writer and director Chris Nash has given us a unique perspective of a slasher film from the killer himself. 

When a group of kids take a locket from a grave near an old fire tower they unwittingly release Johnny (Ry Barrett).  Johnny was killed in an accident 70 years prior after a prank went wrong.  When his dad came for revenge, he was murdered by the inhabitants of a logging camp.  They were all found dead soon after and the camp closed down.

Johnny begins looking for his locket, trapsing around the woods and murdering everyone he sees in the process.  The local park ranger (Reece Presley) seems to know more than he is saying, especially after a group of kids renting a nearby cabin start turning up murdered in gruesome ways.  Finally, it comes down to a pair of survivors - Kris (Andrea Pavlovic) and Colt (Cameron Love) - to try to put an end to Johnny's rampage. 

One good thing about following an undead serial killer around the woods is it eliminates the teleporting villain problem that pops up in slashers.  Johnny spends a lot of time walking, day and night, and the distances between different points in the woods is made quite clear.  The only time the point of view changes is when we see exchanges between some of the victims and, even then, we know where Johnny is lurking the whole time.  What enhances the experience is the lack of an actual score, so there are no orchestral stings or creepy strings to manipulate the audience.  That makes a couple of the kills that are exceedingly brutal feel even more so.

The bad thing about this is that for many it can be a test of patience.  When I say that there is a lot of time spent walking I mean roughly three quarters of the movie.  It pays off with an ending that I'm surprised Nash was willing to do as, while the rest of the movie other than the point of view is a standard slasher, the ending is not. It is one of those rare times when what I was hoping to happen did. 

In a Violent Nature (2024)
Time: 94 minutes
Starring: Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Lauren-Marie Taylor
Director: Chris Nash

 

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