In a Violent Nature (2024) | Film Review

Full disclosure: I grew up on horror movies. There is just something about pulling the blankets close, turning the lights down low, and watching a gaggle of teenagers run smack into an existential threat they are forced to confront or pay for it with their lives. I especially grew up on Halloween and Friday the 13th, serial killer flicks that featured the most sauntering of villains casually stalking and butchering their prey for nothing more than sport and convoluted family politics. Therefore, In a Violent Nature – a new slasher told from the killer’s perspective – should truly be straight up my alley. But is it?

Writer and director Chris Nash keeps the plot as basic as its throwback 4:3 ratio; Johnny (Ry Barrett) is resurrected by an off-camera character’s haphazard theft of a priceless family artifact that, as we learn from character dialogue, was given to him by his mother and therefore keeps his evil at bay. Once that talisman is removed, Johnny and his bitching fireman’s mask will stop at nothing to retrieve it.

Literally, this guy stops at nothing. He is a wandering soul, taking in miles of forest trails in real time. Johnny will hack-and-slash anyone who gets in his way, though he is perfectly content walking incoherently through thick tree limbs and bushes, stomping his way around and casually discarding Leave No Trace best practices. There is even a moment of mindless Johnny soaking in the naturalistic vista.

There is a genius idea buried within this film. Chris Nash deserves a lot of credit for not only framing an entire film around following a masked slasher as he heads to the office, but also for the most creatively gruesome kills to be seen in quite a while. As you watch In a Violent Nature unfold, you are privy to all the stalking and sashaying a lumbering madman endures as he hunts down his prey.

Also, Johnny is the main character, so the mythology is based solely on what we observe as Johnny eavesdrops like a creepy uncle. It leaves one to wonder, are we going to see Johnny stringing up victims to taunt the next murdered up? Or perhaps his selection of the perfect weapons for his viciousness? How about if this guy ever takes a bathroom break?

While the concept leaves us with a plethora of optional scenarios, the execution – outside of those sweet, sweet kills – is exhausting. Other than Ry Barrett’s pitch-perfect take on Johnny’s murderous moves, the acting is pedestrian. But that does seem like an intentional nod to the genre. The real concern is that half of the film, by my count, is following Johnny as he wanders aimlessly through the forest. He does more walking than all the hobbits in Lord of the Rings combined. Pacing matters, even in a horror film aiming for artistic merit, and audience patience is pushed to its absolute limit here as Nash’s camera wades in-and-out of foliage while we tap our fingers awaiting Johnny’s EVENTUAL arrival at his destination.

The other choice that hinders the film is the complete lack of a score. Music amplifies tension, especially in a slasher movie, and Nash’s incessant need to repeatedly demonstrate Johnny’s Fitbit potential without any musical accompaniment is simply a mistake that crushes any promise of a suspenseful interaction. Even subtle cues could have amplified the engrossing possibilities here.

Overall, In a Violent Nature is a worthy matinee for any fan of slashers, and Chris Nash makes a valiant attempt to reinvent the genre with his third-person NPC viewpoint of Johnny as a new icon of terror. Unfortunately, the film is never scary nor immersive, and the pacing is far more brutal than the kills. There is enormous potential here, but sadly, Johnny does not quite make the cut.