Films for Breakfast

It feels almost like an impossible task to try and reinvent the wheel of the slasher genre, and while Chris Nash’s In a Violent Nature might not bring a whole lot new to the table in terms of story or within subverting the tropes of the genre, it feels wholly unique in both presentation and execution. The film has been described as an “ambient slasher film” – and I can’t think of a better description. This is a film that is more concerned with its craft, gory kills, and creating a unique atmosphere than it is telling a particularly original or character-driven story. In fact, it feels more eager to embrace those tropes with a different, stylistic spin than to reinvent them; something that I greatly admire.

The film loosely follows a group of unsuspecting teens on a getaway in the woods, after they take a locket from a collapsed fire tower. When taking the locket, they unknowingly resurrect the rotting corpse of Johnny (Ry Barrett), a revenge-fuelled spirit raged by a horrific crime from years ago. The undead killer embarks on a bloody rampage across the woods, targeting both the group of teens, rangers, and other victims. However, what makes the film truly standout is that the film is less interested in giving all of this from the perspective of the victims, but instead we follow Johnny as he purges through the woods one victim at a time. 

The stylistic choice to make Johnny our focal point in the film is a very ambitious one, but one that I think makes In a Violent Nature wholly unique and unlike any other horror film I’ve seen recently. Chris Nash doesn’t just feel content with making Johnny our vessel for this story, but goes the extra mile of deliberately pacing the film around him and having audiences truly feel like voyeurs in gruesome deaths they shouldn’t be seeing; always creeping behind him, looking over his shoulder, or from a certain distance of his kills as he lays into his victims. Nash truly has a clear vision here that I think is incredibly innovative and effective, but a lot of credit is also due to cinematographer Pierce Derks who does a great job at visualizing Johnny’s POV, as well as the woods in which he resides and purges. 

As I previously stated, on top of making the POV and style of the film different from most slasher films that you’d see today, a big priority for Nash and crew seems to be designing some of the most innovative and excessively gory deaths you’ll see in quite some time. The film has one or two kills that are so unabashedly gory and insanely designed that you truly have to see them to believe them; shot out to the incredible practical effects on display that make all of the kills more tangible and visceral. On top of the gory deaths, there are also a handful of kills that are seemingly simple and yet are elevated due to simple framing techniques that subvert your expectations from how you’d normally see that type of on-screen death. Truly a unique blend that makes every kill unpredictable and exhilarating. 

There’s a ton that I admire about In a Violent Nature, although I do think that it takes a little bit of time to find its footing as the film tries to get audiences acquainted with its style and presentation, causing some pacing issues in the first act. However, it’s really hard to not admire what Nash and company are going for here – I don’t think this will be revered in the same way something like Scream was in the 90s, which was a total reinvention of the genre. However, despite its pacing issues and feeling a bit one-note in terms of what it’s going for… what it’s going for is still extremely fascinating and unlike anything you’ll see this year. I can’t wait to see where Chris Nash goes from here!

3.5/5