In the decrepit remains of a fire tower, a locket hangs in close up. A few lines of offscreen chatter leads to said locket being taken: the conversation has hardly faded into the distance before the ground shudders and a hulking corpse rises from the grave. It’s unlikely that he’s going to ask for it back in a friendly way…
Writer/director Chris Nash’s spin on the slasher flick posits the question “What does the killer get up to between murders?” and, although this particular maniac doesn’t have the city lifestyle of, say, Frank Zito in, er, Maniac, the great outdoors does provide an opportunity for appreciating the picturesque surroundings and getting the step count up as Johnny – for he has not just a name but a local legend attached – wanders the woodlands in search of his next target.
Approaching a well-worn subgenre from a different angle is always welcome and this is applied literally to the opening fifteen minutes of In a Violent Nature, providing a grimly fascinating viewpoint as the camera hovers just behind Johnny in a way which gamers will particularly appreciate. This also presents the film with an immediate problem: can it spend ninety minutes wandering a few paces behind the antagonist and retain the interest of the audience?
As it turns out, the movie decides not to carry out that particular experiment. Once the killer closes in on a campfire gathering of disposable young folks, the proceedings switch from eavesdropping from the trees to circling the group in close quarters, as the tragic backstory of Johnny is recounted and we glimpse their nemesis in the background. It’s the switch between killer cam and traditional slaughter set-up that undercuts the project’s pitch and drags it back into a mainstream it spent half of the first act indicating it would never venture into.
Yes, this movie draws inspiration from slow cinema and the relatively sedate pace will throw off many a gorehound weaned on the antics of Jason Voorhees, but the atmospheric locations and the drawn out sense that something dreadful will eventually happen is effective. The major issue is that In A Violent Nature doesn’t fully commit to changing the game, leaning on tropes to soften any bewilderment its audience may be experiencing.
The fact that Johnny is the strong, silent type doesn’t exactly help matters either. An early flashback projected in a mirror sketches out those basic details about why he’s ready to kill everyone in his path, but any further character development is jettisoned in favour of him finding ever more icky-looking weaponry to use or would-be iconic garb to don. Also, there’s a lot of him walking. And I mean A LOT. There’s only so much yomping through the undergrowth you can take before it seems that you could be watching an episode of Countryfile.
The doomed dwellers of the cabin don’t fare much better either, most of them presented as a means of adding to the body count and yet, as unsympathetic as they are, do they deserve to die? The original Friday The 13th featured at least some engaging characters which left the viewer conflicted as they met various sticky ends, and its ever more cartoony sequels took the “line ‘em up, hack ‘em down” ethos to levels of silliness which felt more fairground ride than hard driving horror. Here, there’s a mean streak a mile wide to the kills which, however impressive and elaborate the effects are, feels like it’s a demonstration of nihilism just for the sake of it.
Having said that, a couple of the set-pieces are to be applauded, merely for their sheer innovative gruesomeness. A cliff-top attack using dragging hooks develops into the one thing you definitely won’t forget about this, with its initial wince-inducing dose of head trauma transforming into an unexpected tour de force of cracking bones and spilling guts. Did folks walk out of the screening during this? Yes, they did. Credit where it’s due, so kudos to FX supervisor Steven Kostanski (he of cult favourite Manborg) and his team.
It’s not just wham, bang – well, not just wham, bang, drag, crack, splat, crack, splat, drag, drag, splat in the above case. Just over an hour in, a sequence involving an incapacitated soon-to-be victim and a hideous piece of machinery called a log splitter amps up both the suspense and the flat out cruelty, its deliberate, inescapable brutality treating the viewer to a cold shower of terror as the tale heads into the last act showdown.
Ah, that last act showdown. The blackly comic moment at which a taunt backfires spectacularly may rob the confrontation of its momentum and introduce unnecessary levity, but I chuckled at its audacity in playing out such a ridiculously gross gag to breaking point. From there, the time honoured killer versus final survivor endgame is played out and, to be fair to In A Violent Nature, it heads back to its initial M.O. of bringing something distinct to the table, skewing the usual climax in a way that, depending on your viewpoint, you’ll find either daring or thoroughly unsatisfactory. Or, if you’re me, both.
Lauded as the horror film of 2024 in some quarters and dismissed as the worst film ever in others, I found In A Violent Nature to be neither of those. The movie breaks too many of its own rules about the innovations it trumpets in the opening scenes and the sporadic bursts of humour, although skilfully handled, don’t sit particularly well with much of the bleakness on display. The effects are mostly top drawer but anyone expecting wall-to-wall bloodshed might be twiddling their thumbs during long takes in which nothing much appears to be happening.
In A Violent Nature succeeds in provoking discussion like no other rural kill pic out there, falling in the middle ground between fascinatingly experimental and overly familiar. A splattering of memorable gore may not be enough to tide the viewer over during Johnny’s various strolls but, at the very least, Chris Nash has made a film which sets itself apart from others in the subgenre, regardless of your feelings about the end product.
In a Violent Nature (2024) is on a limited UK cinematic run this July. It is also available to stream on Amazon and via other streaming services: click here to find out more about availability in your area..