Dir: Chris Nash
Cast: Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Sam Roulston, Alexander Oliver, Timothy Paul McCarthy, Lauren-Marie Taylor
This serene POV slasher flick serves up plenty of imaginatively bloody kills but its tedious documentary style pacing may prove too slow for even the most devout horror aficionados
After being treated to the excellent “A Quiet Place: Day One” in the past week, July is shaping up to be an exciting month for horror. Scheduled cinematic releases this month include: the third, and possibly final, instalment in Ti West‘s “X” franchise, “MaXXXine”; the psychological thriller “Longlegs”; and low-budget slasher flick “In a Violent Nature”, the latter of which I managed to catch an early screening of this week at my local cinema. Unlike this month’s other horror releases, which star seriously impressive Hollywood talent, “In a Violent Nature” sees a cast of relative newcomers inhabit the isolated forests of Ontario whilst being hunted down by its central undead killer.
Written and directed by independent filmmaker Chris Nash, “In a Violent Nature” was filmed in the Canadian mountains in 2021 and went on to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024, where it was picked up for distribution by IFC Films. Despite a delayed opening in the United Kingdom, the film was released on 31st May in the United States, marking the widest release in IFC Films history, with its streaming release on Shudder expected later in the year. To date, the low-budget horror has racked up an impressive $4.2 million at the box office, making it one of the highest grossing Shudder productions of all time, making 2024 a highly successful year for the horror streaming platform following the success of “Late Night with the Devil”.
Paying homage to your typical slashers of the 1980’s, most notably the “Friday the 13th” franchise, “In a Violent Nature” flips the subgenre on its head by following its possibly demonic, resurrected killer throughout the majority of the runtime. Like most entries in the Jason Vorhees fronted franchise, the premise is relatively simple as we follow unflappable horror monster “Johnny” (Ry Barrett) as he goes about his business, brutally disposing of any hapless teenager or local logger that stands in his way. We are first introduced to Johnny when out-of-towner, Troy (Liam Leone), finds and pockets a locket hanging on the remains of an abandoned fire tower. Unbeknownst to Troy and his friends, the locket possesses the spirit of Johnny, causing his zombified remains for rise from the ground moments later.
Around a campfire, one of the group of friends, Ehren (Sam Roulston), recounts Johnny’s death, who rumour has it died by falling from the fire tower when a prank when array decades prior. and legend has it, two series of murders over the subsequent decades are atributed to Johnny’s vengeaful spirit. We follow the now awaken and hell-bent Johnny as he slowly trudges through the Canadian wilderness as he sets out to individually dispatch those who have taken what is rightfully his.
The most fascinating thing about Nash’s irrefutably hyperviolent horror is how it offers very little in terms of generic scares, something often attributed to the genre, slashers in particular. There is no real tension, or overtly frightening moments, which make for a unique and often disturbingly real viewing experience. Inspired by the naturally violent wild animals that can be found amongst the North American trees, Nash and cinematographer Pierce Derks utilise a combination of long static shots and tracking shots to give the film a National Geographic feel, which absolutely delivers in conveying the creator’s theme on the instinctive and occasionally illogical violent nature of “animals”, Johnny being one of them. Shot in 4:3 aspect ratio, some of Derks camera work is a thing of beauty, with the lack of musical score and emphasis on natural woodland sounds fully immersing the viewer in Johnny’s footsteps as he wanders, seemingly forever, in between each increasingly bloody and innovative kill.
Horror fans with a blood lust to appease will not be disappointed, with each of Johnny’s victims being disembowelled, mutilated and dismembered more viciously than the last, with one agonisingly slow execution involving a log splitter staying with me long after the end credits. However, even the biggest horror fans ultimately have their patience tested due to the movie’s slow, almost serene tone. Despite only clocking at 94 minutes, it can be a slog at times watching Johnny lumber through the trees at a snail’s pace. This is also not helped by a unnecessarily lengthy scene towards the movie’s climax involving our largely forgettable final girl Kris (Andrea Pavlovic) and “Friday the 13th Part 2” alumni Lauren-Marie Taylor, with the latter essentially spelling out Nash’s motif behind the movie, undermining all the filmmaker’s work up to this point.
Thanks to its impressive technical craft, “In a Violent Nature” manages to deliver an undeniably unforgettable viewing experience and despite my reservations I am glad I got to witness some breath-taking, albeit occasionally gruesome visuals, on the big screen. The violence will undoubtedly prove to be too much for many and its “slow cinema” approach may even deter some of its core demographic but it has left me intrigued as to where creator Chris Nash’s career goes from here.
In a Violent Nature is showing in UK Cinemas from 12th July 2024
Dan Loves Film 
Great reviews as always. This is not a movie that I think I will see mainly because I’m not a huge fan of the slasher genre. I often find it hard to sit through these movies due towards their gruesome violence. These movies have a huge fan following as you discussed in your review, but I have never found them appealing. That being said, there are certain exceptions to the rule. For instance, the premise of “A Violent Nature” did bring to mind the film “Zodiac”. David Fincher’s investigative thriller traced the rise of the notorious Zodiac killer. It was one of my favorite movies that Fincher has made. So, I still don’t think that I will see “A Violent Nature”. But I do love certain movies in the genre such as “Zodiac” which are more about just murders that are committed by killers.
Here’s a list of my favorite David Fincher movies (“Zodiac” is at number 5 on the list):
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Terrific insight
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