In a Violent Nature (2024), directed by Chris Nash, stars Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Sam Roulston, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Alexander Oliver, and Timothy Paul McCarthy. The film follows a group of friends on a weekend getaway who discover a collapsed fire tower deep in the woods. When they remove a golden locket hanging from the wreckage, it awakes the corpse of Johnny (Barrett), a murderous soul intent on getting the locket back. Mostly from Johnny’s POV, we see him hunt down the friends one by one – disposing of them in the most deranged ways possible. 

Barrett is a formidable physical presence as Johnny and harkens back to more monstrous slasher villains. He feels like a cross between Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise, and The Miner from My Bloody Valentine (1981). Because the film is mostly shown from Johnny’s perspective, all of the “victims” are established through conversations that he overhears from the shadows. On one hand, I think this works because these characters aren’t necessarily meant to be complex, they’re meant to harken back to the typical slasher movie archetypes of the 1980s. On the other hand, it does result in characters that we’ve seen countless times before and aren’t very likable. Because of this, the kills feel more “fun” and “creative” as opposed to “disturbing,” which is crazy to say considering the film features one of the most wildly brutal slasher movie kills I’ve ever seen. These characters also have a certain thematic/ironic connection to each of their deaths which again adds to this sense of “fun.” The thing is, the deaths here are so brutal and mean that it sometimes doesn’t gel well tonally. In other words, it feels like the deaths are too serious to match the sense of fun, and the sense of fun is too prevalent to feel scared. 

Although the experience story-wise is a barebones slasher movie, it stands out from its peers due to the wonderful cinematography that gives it a great sense of visual storytelling. It also features a unique sound design that focuses on the sounds of nature and the tranquility of the quiet moments between the kills. This is interesting in terms of seeing something new, but I once again feel this eliminates a lot of would-be tension. There’s also a lack of a score during kill sequences. Again, this gives everything a feeling of quiet brutality but also eliminates tension. For example, there’s one particular sequence where a character gets dismembered and it’s drawn out to the point of boredom. Gore can be effective, but it needs to be attached to tension. When the character is dead and we just see him get further ripped apart, it doesn’t feel like there’s much of a point.

This speaks to the film’s larger issue which is that the longer it goes on, the more it loses momentum. It features long sequences that show Johnny slowly walking through the woods on the way to his next victim. This works initially, but after it happens for a fourth time in the same visual framing as the last three sequences, it becomes grating. It also doesn’t help that the story is one we’ve seen already and is therefore predictable. 

One element here that I think is unique is that there’s a lot of subtext related to ecological conservation. In a sense, it argues that like Johnny toward his victims, we kill and destroy nature for seemingly no reason. That message would work, but there ARE reasons humans end up hurting the environment. They may not be particularly pure reasons, but they’re definitively more understandable than Johnny’s. Or maybe not? Is revenge really less pure of motivation than our simple creature comforts? When one reads the film this way, it frames Johnny as someone who just wants to protect his forest.

Overall, this is a slasher film that takes a unique approach in terms of character perspective and visuals. It’s a mixed bag in terms of what works, but I think this will easily appeal to slasher fans looking for what’s basically a slightly elevated version of a Friday the 13th movie. The “carnage candy” is off the charts, so at the very least, gore hounds will be satisfied. If this sounds like your jam, check it out. If not, you’ll most likely find it a be a slag. B-