It’s really hard to make a slasher with impact these days. Drew Goddard pulled it off in 2011 with Cabin in the Woods and whether or not you like that film, there’s no denying its impact. I’ve seen tons of slashers over the years, from those revisiting existing properties to attempts to start new ones and even character crossovers. We’ve never seen a film from the perspective of the violent stalkers because they are so often uninteresting as more than vehicles for disembowelment. In a Violent Nature is Chris Nash’s first feature-length film but he’s got quite the resume, with a segment in The ABC’s of Death and effects work on Psycho Goreman. If we are to judge by his first effort it’s a complicated conversation, as his Jason sendup has so much going for it but cannot keep from getting in its own way at times.
There’s something lovely about the execution of segments of the movie. The tension is thick as we watch this beefy boy stomp his way through the forest, our only music being the steady stomping of a resurrected killer as he chases his targets through the woods. Johnny (Ry Barrett), our boy who rises in a violent nature, is stalking someone that took a locket from an abandoned fire tower he was buried under. Johnny is extremely Jason-coded, with mommy issues and steady gait that serves as the majority of the film’s runtime. He’s not really hunting anyone in particular, which is part of the charm, but rather just moving towards whatever noise or light he sees looking for his locket.
Watching him kill is a real jolt, with none of it feeling fun in any way. Part of the point of a slasher is getting to know shitty people so you can watch them die in ridiculously excessive ways. Not so with In a Violent Nature, with characters paper-thin and kills executed efficiently and brutally between long walks in the woods. The wonder of it comes from this effect, with everything boiled down to a killer’s animalistic nature as he works through the young people.
Johnny even has a similar origin story to Jason, one that feels almost exploitative of neurodivergent individuals but manages to stay sleazy enough to feel like a throwback instead of a hateful statement. It sets the stage for the film just fine but, like much of the other dialogue scenes, all feels superfluous when it comes down to brass tacks. We’re here to watch him stomp, kill, and continue because that’s what makes this unique. His nature is violence, so when we pause the thwomp-thwomping of heavy feet for him to listen it kills the momentum. The character never feels like one that would just stop and listen so he can get some minor development for the youth in. Johnny’s here to kill and the very structure of the film is undone by how these moments play out.
The unfortunate thing about the movie is that it would be an incredible 45-60 minute short film. Stretching it out to 92 minutes is to its detriment, but seeing the arthouse film rake in $2.1m opening on 1000 screens across America brings some warmth to my heart. It’s telling that there’s an audience for something like this, despite word-of-mouth being fairly mixed on the film as a whole.
I had fun with it but if you aren’t into the gore and aren’t a slasher devotee I just cannot find a reason to recommend it. I will revisit it on VOD when that is available, but for now I think this is a mean little debut that doesn’t quite reach the mark.
In a Violent Nature is currently playing in theatres.
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