MOVIE REVIEW: IN A VIOLENT NATURE

 

When a group of teens takes a locket from a collapsed fire tower in the woods, they unwittingly resurrect the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime. The undead killer soon embarks on a bloody rampage to retrieve the stolen locket, methodically slaughtering anyone who gets in his way.

Director: Chris Nash

Cast: Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis 

Release Date: May 31, 2024

Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller

Unrated

Runtime: 1h 34m

Review:

In a Violent Nature is a fascinating experiment in the slasher genre which flips the script by focusing on the killer's point of view which methodically delivers gory kills but little substance.  Chris Nash's film doesn't break any new ground as much as it gives us another perspective of a well worn genre with this film borrowing heavily from the Friday the 13th series with a small smattering of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  His film makes great use of the Canadian wilderness as we follow the killer's steady stroll from location to location in long extended shots.  Those short on patience are likely to be frustrated as the film features a bevy of these sequences with little dialogue and no music with some inventive kills interspersed in between.  A handful of those kills are fairly creative and they are sure to make gore hounds happy especially since they're laced with hints of dark humor throughout.  It helps that the collection of young adults that serve as meat for the grinder are written as stereotypically as possible with each going out in a predictable manner.  The steady pace has a headstrong precision that mimics the killer's single mindedness but those expecting any sort of exploration of the genre or central killer will be left wanting as the entire thing is fairly thin outside of its novel approach. In a Violent Nature seems more than content to deliver its simplistic thrills and impressive visuals as a treat to the long time fans of the subgenre.  

B-