In a Violent Nature: A Long, Bloody Hike in the Woods

I’m certain that In a Violent Nature will polarize horror fans. Some will absolutely love a few of the grisly kills, especially one near the halfway point, while others may find the movie to be a tedious arthouse slasher. I’m somewhere in the middle. I appreciate what this film tries to do by showing us the slasher’s POV. I’m certain this will inspire other creatives going forward. On the other hand, there’s a reason we’ve never had a Friday the 13th movie from Jason’s perspective.

Directed and written by Chris Nash, the film stars Ry Barrett as our masked killer, Johnny. We’re with him for the entire 90-minute runtime, and yes, we pretty much see everything from his perspective. To the film’s credit, In a Violent Nature does establish some of Johnny’s backstory, in a very Camp Crystal Lake set-up. It’s the tried-and-true old campfire tale.

Like Jason, Johnny also has some mommy issues. He focuses on a necklace for much of the film that reminds him of his mom and childhood memories. There’s even one scene where he finds a toy car in the woods, slumps against a tree, and plays with it. He sometimes resorts to childhood memories, much like Jason does at times, especially in Friday the 13th Pt. 2 when Final Girl Ginny (Amy Steel) slips on his mother’s grimy blue sweater and Jason think it’s dear old mom, thus lowering his weapon for a moment, giving Ginny the upper hand.

The point is that Jonny isn’t totally a one-note killer. He’s at least partially fleshed out. In terms of appearance, he looks pretty cool in his shabby, tattered clothes and large mask with huge, bug-like eyes. He’s an intimidating presence. He also acquires various weapons as the runtime progresses, including a chain with a rusty hook on both ends, an axe, and various other deadly implements. It’s fun watching him use these various tools.

Like any slasher film, Johnny spends most of the runtime picking off helpless and clueless 20-somethings who step into his territory. There are two kills in particular that gore hounds will absolutely love. By the halfway point, the film really ramps up and paints the woods red.

The problem is that until that halfway point and one murder in particular, In a Violent Nature is a slog. If you see this in a theater, drink coffee beforehand. The first half features a lot of Johnny walking in the woods. He walks, and he walks, and he walks. You hear his footsteps and heavy breathing against the chirps of birds. To be fair, the nature shots are absolutely gorgeous, but what do slashers do when they’re not murdering teens? Apparently, they hike in the woods.

The film’s decision to focus the POV solely on the killer also hamstrings the character development. We don’t get to know any of the victims Johnny butchers. Heck, it’s hard to even recall their names. This is even true of the Final Girl, who really only shows up in about the last 15 minutes. I’m not saying every F13 movie has stellar character development, but I certainly recall most of the Final Girls. That’s one sacrifice this film makes for the sake of its experimentation. There is one stellar monologue/dialogue-heavy sequence in the last act that’s brilliant. That scene isn’t the norm, however.

While In a Violent Nature isn’t my favorite slasher. I respect what it tries to do. It also has some truly gnarly kills. You just have to stay awake long enough to get to that point. That said, I suspect this movie will open the door for other directors to try something similar, though maybe a finer balance between the killer’s POV and the teens/20 somethings. At the very least, we now have a slasher that tries to reinvent the tired formula, and I can’t wait for the conversations this film will spark. Go see this one in the theaters, at the very least for the crowd’s reaction to the kills.

In a Violent Nature slashes into theaters on May 31. It’ll hit Shudder at a later date.