“Nature is Unforgiving”
Much like how fans of James Bond movies expect to see the classic elements of the franchise such as sexy women, gadgets, bad guys monologuing, fast cars, and Bond being cool as hell, fans of slasher films have similar expectations. Young people having sex, doing drugs, a cool killer in a mask killing them in gruesome ways, and the viewer yelling at the screen while the victims make the dumbest decisions. This is where director Chris Nash’s creative take on the old fashion slasher comes into play. In a Violent Nature has everything fans of slashers love and enjoy. Well, almost everything. Sadly, there is no gratuitous nudity. Spoiler Alert.
Nash delivers all the classic tropes that we expect from these movies with a bit of a twist on the genre. The film starts by focusing on a gold locket hanging on an old rusted pipe in the middle of the woods. We hear some chatter of a few guys off-camera as we eventually see a hand slip into the frame and remove the locket as we hear the group shuffle off. After a few moments, the ground begins to move as we witness a zombie-like person, played by a hulking Ry Barrett, unearth themselves from a shallow grave. This creature gets its bearings and begins walking through the forest with the camera never leaving his back. He seemingly walks for a long time as the light changes from the sky. The camera never cuts away even when he exits the forest and hears an argument between a park ranger and a hunter before he stalks the hunter who becomes his first victim.
The fresh twist that Nash adds is the entire film is the point of view of the killer. Well, almost the entire film but I will get to that later. I appreciate what Nash was going for here and it worked for the most part. A lot of elements from slasher movies are stripped away though. We don’t see the group of victims hitting the road and getting to the cabin as weird things happen before their demise. There’s no cutting to the town folk hinting that something is off about this area. We also don’t get the typical jump scares with screeching or pulsing scores to amp up our heartbeats. All of this is stripped away because again we are watching the POV of this mindless killer who wouldn’t hear any of that and I enjoyed the crap out of this take. Yes, it is slow paced but that’s kind of the point. You are essentially following zombie Jason Voorhees as he stalks around Crystal Lake until he finds his unexpecting victims without a Harry Manfredini type score.
Nash does a tremendous job when he commits to this gimmick while also doing a fantastic job of hitting on so many of the slasher cliches we know and love. We get the campfire back story of the killer, we have the jerk boyfriend with the caring girlfriend, and the pothead loser among others. It’s admirable how we know each one of these victims without spending any real time with them or receiving any back story. We know their archetypes so well that the less is more approach is effective here. Also, some brutal and inventive kills that utilize good old-fashioned practical effects to help the film live up to its title. One so brutal, that a couple left the theater before the kill was even finished. That made me chuckle. Good job, Nash.
There are some gorgeous shots Nash pulls off that you don’t expect to see in movies like this. Higher-budget films should feel ashamed that they can’t pull some off some of this cinematography. One in particular is the killer standing on the edge of a cliff with a weapon in hand looking out into the distance.
This is not a film for non-horror fans. Hell, this isn’t for most horror fans who have become accustomed to the status quo of these types of films. But I do recommend it for those who can appreciate someone taking a creative risk and a slower pace. The slow pace didn’t hurt the movie for me, but I can see where some will not enjoy it as this is where another couple decided to leave during my showing. For me, it added to the gimmick and enhanced the world where it’s set. Unfortunately, it’s not all praise for the film as there are two instances where Nash abandons the POV angle that had me scratching my head. Either stick to it 100% or don’t do it at all. One instance is during your typical campfire scene when someone tells the group about the spooky killer’s backstory. There was no need to abandon the killer’s POV here as he was standing there listening to the whole thing. As far as the second instance, I’m not going to spoil it but I have my theory and I don’t like it.
Overall, In a Violent Nature is a solid and fresh take on the slasher genre that I hope people embrace so we can get more inventive takes that could help lead to more original horror movies. Ry Barrett does his part by playing the demonic killer with the right movements and intimidation to make Kane Hodder proud. Writer and director Chris Nash is someone I will be following to see what he can come up with next. I have to give it a grade of 3.25/5. If Nash had stuck to the gimmick all the way through, that grade would be much higher.
