In a Violent Nature
When a camper finds a gold pendant hanging from an old fire tower, he takes what we will discover is the long dead Johnny’s (Ry Barrett) only remembrance of his mother. The theft reanimates the man buried there and he’ll kill everyone in his way until he finds it “In a Violent Nature.”
Laura's Review: B
After we witness Johnny climb out of the earth (in a pre-widescreen television 4:3 aspect ratio) he begins walking through the forest, the camera behind him as we hear his footsteps crunching on the forest floor. He comes across a decomposing animal, its foot caught in a trap. A car horn begins to blare in the distance and we overhear an argument between a forest ranger and that trapper, who is warned but remains rebellious, just as Johnny would. Johnny enters the man’s small home and, in a mirror, recalls his dad giving him his mother’s necklace. Then the trapper, holding a rifle, encounters the man, but we know he doesn’t stand a chance and his end will be ironic.
At first, as the usual slasher clichés play out with over the top gore of the cheesy 80’s variety, I began to think “In a Violent Nature” was nothing but a “Friday the 13th” remake being told from the killer’s point of view, a point of view which the filmmakers don’t strictly adhere to. But as the film moved along, I began to fall under its spell, seeing the film as more of an art school slow cinema remake of “Friday the 13th” with small homages to other classics of the genre, like the tip of the hat to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” that graces its finale (no chainsaws involved) or the antique leather fire helmet Johnny dons that makes him resemble Fincher’s “Zodiac” killer.
Writer/director Chris Nash (the 'Z is for Zygote' segment of "The ABC's of Death") wanted to combine his love of horror with the more reflective films of Gus Van Sant and Terrance Malick, a seemingly bizarre idea on the surface, but one which he has made work along with the talents of cinematographer Pierce Derks (2nd unit, "Mandy"), sound designers Tim Atkins and Michelle Hwu and editor Alex Jacobs, who achieves a hypnotic pacing to Derks’ long takes. The film could almost be taking the “Sasquatch Sunset” approach to Jason, although it is far less humorous, a few touches of the sick kind aside. Steven Kostanski is unusually inventive with his prosthetic effects in a mid-section kill sure to set gorehounds hearts racing, although another scene in a saw mill is more effective creating unease through exterior shots than with anything that goes on inside.
Those expecting something more than a hybrid genre exercise may be disappointed, the film far more effective when dialogue free, excepting its final girl (Andrea Pavlovic) finale, when a stranger in a red pickup (Lauren Taylor, "Friday the 13th, Part 2") arrives and gives the dazed young woman a lift, telling her about a bear mauling and the ‘henhouse syndrome’ where ‘Animals don’t get too hung up on reason. They just keep killin’. This is the scene where the movie really all comes together, a wowzer of an ending where Nash builds up incredible tension only to suggest something we cannot see. “In a Violent Nature” is the work of a filmmaker willing to take a risk by putting an art house twist on a genre whose audience is usually found in the grindhouse.
Robin's Review: C+
IFC Films releases "In a Violent Nature" in theaters on 5/31/24.
