In a Violent Nature review.
Does a slasher movie work from the perspective of the silent, masked killer? Kind of.
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In a Violent Nature
Directed by Chris Nash
Screenplay by Chris Nash
Starring Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan and Sam Roulston
In a Violent Nature Review
As an exercise I once wrote a screenplay from the perspective of a final girl that didn’t know she was in a slasher movie. The point was to see if the established tropes of the genre would work if you weren’t aware that was the story you were watching play out. In a Violent Nature seems to be running a similar, though much more difficult, experiment. Does a slasher movie work when viewed from the perspective of a silent killer work? As I found out once upon a time…kind of.
There is an inherent problem in each attempt. I used too many tricks in my script…trying to hide the truth from the main character. Parts of it worked as intended…but it was always missing something. I’m obviously talking about the killer. In a Violent Nature doesn’t bog itself down in subterfuge and psychological examinations. It couldn’t even if it wanted to. The focal point of its slight story is the undead monster roaming through the woods. It takes a clever approach to its experiment. There is a full slasher movie happening here…we’re simply restricted to the parts that the killer sees. Victims are supporting characters. The killer watches them long enough to give a sense of who everyone is. Not enough to connect or care about anyone, of course. That isn’t a problem. Until it is.
In a Violent Nature clearly recognizes what was missing from its concept. It spends the third act attempting to rectify it. I’m obviously talking about the final girl. Genre veterans will no doubt be able to discern who that will be. The killer lingers around a campfire chat between his group of future victims. Only one character has an interesting enough background to qualify as more than fodder. But it isn’t enough. When the film has no choice but to switch perspective…you don’t care about the character you’re following. Because this isn’t her story. In a Violent Nature is a great idea that lacks an equal payoff.
If you even wondered what Jason Voorhees does between kills…In a Violent Nature answers it for you. That’s what we watch for the bulk of the movie. It plays out like a Jason walking simulator. Which, to be honest, is pretty cool. An over the shoulder view of our undead killer guides us through a forest of death. There’s a surprising amount of lore given the limitations of the concept. What makes the idea work is that there is a fully fleshed out slasher story in the background. Characters discover missing friends and dead bodies…they just don’t do it on screen. We’ll occasionally hear someone talk about something that happened to them. It makes the whole thing feel more complete.
The highlight of In a Violent Nature is its kills. They need to be. We walk a good distance to get to each one. You’ve probably heard that this movie has one of the craziest kills around. It’s true. Glorious practical effects deliver excellent gore. One kill featuring a rock smashed into a character’s head in one shot is so well done it defies logic. And…that kill everyone is talking about…it’s a complete original. It would sit atop any list of Jason’s best. Something for the fans of the genre from a filmmaker who was clearly one himself. Why else would someone run the experiment?
My attempt at a story centered around the final girl was missing a strong antagonist. No matter how you dress it up…eventually you’re going to need to show the slashing. One of my original goals was to see if a bloodless slasher sans kill scenes would work. Even when it reverted to a more familiar slasher concept…the kills were (largely) not happening in front of the unaware main character. It didn’t work. Of course it didn’t work. Not to any level worth pursuing, at least. No matter how much care you put into a protagonist…they need an antagonist worth fearing.
In a Violent Nature has fun kills all over it. It wants to see what happens when you remove the parts of slasher movies that people don’t care as much about. The partying teens and their ultimately trivial nonsense. It works quite well. Until the killer’s story is over and we are left riding with a character we have no emotional attachment to. Even the strongest antagonist needs a protagonist worth rooting for.
Scare Value
A worthwhile experiment that will give a fresh perspective to fans of the slasher genre. It’s not showing you something new…it’s showing you something in a new way. Kills are quite fun. The whole thing works as advertised until the moment it tries to figure out what to do after that. Thankfully, most of the movie is made out of what works. An easy recommendation for fans of slasher movies.
3.5/5
In a Violent Nature Link
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