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‘In a Violent Nature’ Review
Not Your Typical Slasher Movie
Film: In a Violent Nature. Year: 2024. Genre: Drama/Horror/Thriller. Director/Writer: Chris Nash
When you think of a slasher film, buckets of blood, ultra-gory wounds, and sloppy beheadings/stabbings might come to mind. However, there’s almost none in writer/director Chris Nash’s highly experimental slasher debut feature. His In a Violent Nature plays much more with the intensity that comes with a killer waiting for his next prey, as you follow the story from the perpetrator’s POV. Apart from a few moments during which you can see what the killer’s potential victims are up to, the audience remains side-by-side with the monster.
Because of this, you get a front-row seat to witness the gruesomeness the murderer is about to inflict. Yes, Nash’s film clearly turns the classic elements of a horror movie on their heads, which is precisely what makes this approach so captivating, even during the more silent and ‘unhorror-like’ scenes.
The storyline of In a Violent Nature is pretty straightforward, but nevertheless very effective: A demonical barbaric killer, Johnny (portrayed by a terrific Ry Barrett), doing what he does best and loves most: Ensuring that his innocent victims face their most gruesome death by disembowelling them. They, after all, disturbed his sacred space in the isolated, dense wilderness of Canada, and took one of his very precious possessions.
While a serial killer — in this case, the one people call “White Pines Slaughter” — going on a revenge killing spree isn’t new, the inverted approach of Nash is what sets this movie aside from other similar features. Cinematographer Pierce Derks’ (V/H/S/94, The All Golden) camera is always a few meters behind the killer, and whenever a murderous, hulking figure moves, so does the camera. The pace of his steps and the length of his lurking in the darkness ultimately determine the rhythm of the film.
The amount of waiting can be off-putting during certain moments, but prolonging the investable gruesome events is the element that keeps you on your toes the entire time. You might not…
