In a Violent Nature (2024)

In a Violent Nature Review

Summary: The horror film follows a hungry zombie as it moves through an isolated woods.

Johnny’s arrival in Chris Nash’s slasher movie, In A Violent Nature, is not marked with much. Actually, at the beginning of the movie you can’t even tell what’s happening. You simply overhear conversations typically in slasher films we’d see who’s talking but these are presumably our main characters or just victims of a deadly cold open? In A Violent Nature, while deeply and obviously influenced by many slashers before it, is not most slasher movies. It brings something new to this proven subgenre that works like gangbusters. Nash’s film is great because it takes the most common tropes imaginable and repurposes them through a literal new lens. What is that new lens you might ask? It’s Johnny’s! With the camera mostly staying behind this hulking beast, this second-person style slasher is incredibly immersive and incredibly effective.

As mentioned earlier, this movie starts and there is absolutely no sense of geography to ground yourself in. And then – for as soon as those voices fade into the distance – the ground begins to essentially gurgle underfoot. Johnny has awoken; it seems evil is being birthed from below him somehow. He spits back out into some forest somewhere… and then he walks… and we follow him with our eyes as viewers do when they watch movies about things walking places! All we hear are his hulking footsteps (which get louder each time one lands), leaves brushing against his body every now and again; maybe a little bit of background nature ambience here or there if you’re lucky enough for birdsong near your screening room window.

He doesn’t speak, or mutter anything really; hell he barely even thinks! There isn’t another character to cut away to or a musical score to escape into so instead all we can do inside In A Violent Nature is sit there with this hulking beast. And somewhere along the way after spending so long trapped in here you start to get a sense that he, or it, is completely mindless. It’s scary because by now we should have seen someone else, right? I mean with Friday the 13th or Halloween (the classics) at least other characters give us an inkling of an idea as to what’s going on… not Nash though! While there are some easter eggs which hint at things he’s not interested in explaining anything; he wants this new horror icon of his invention to be shrouded in mystery and if it grosses out audiences too then more power from him.

This movie totally needs some patience, but it’s gnarly. There is one sequence that will probably be remembered as the best horror death scene of the year, and honestly, maybe ever. But beyond the amazing makeup and prosthetics and the wet, crunchy sound design, there are more layers to Nash’s kills than that. We’ve been in this stalking beast’s head for so long that we hardly meet any of his victims. We learn a few things about their relationships in passing moments, but it’s all bits overheard through walls or from a distance. You would think this would make these deaths less impactful however they are actually more disturbing because of it. There is simply no rhyme or reason to what he does. Eventually it becomes evident that Johnny, while always silent and single-mindedly continuing along his aimless path, is sadistic and imaginative in how he kills people. It’s not just about him getting the job done; it goes much further than that. His complete lack of humanity is only underscored by the violence.

Following the premiere of In A Violent Nature at a festival Nash spoke about wanting to create vibes punctuated with extreme violence throughout an entire film – needless to say he succeeded brilliantly here as well! The vibes are SO BAD and genre fans will love them! The movie seems like it could not get any darker… I mean seriously every single one of Johnny’s victims gets hit when they’re most terrifyingly alone (as if screams could never be heard). But stillness also plays into this idea beautifully: either screaming into emptiness where nobody can hear or just drowning out agony altogether by some other method altogether; brilliant sound design work captures isolation perfectly! At one moment during In A Violent Nature Johnny drags someone inside a shed… I won’t give anything away but let me tell you now after seeing what happens next I don’t think there has ever been anything quite so insane done in any movie before and it was made all the scarier because we never know what is making that noise until our brains have already gone crazy trying to imagine what could be causing such a horrific sound . When the reveal comes, our minds go numb from the loudness until we can’t think anymore. These moments of violent clarity are shown through a lens that, despite being stuck following Johnny around, leaves us thankful for not knowing him better than we do – he sees them as toys which is beyond terrifying!

Though not to be spoiled in this review, the conclusion of In A Violent Nature is perhaps Nash’s most impressive feat. He deserves praise for his control during the extended finale. What he does with the final girl is truly sickening. No comfort or satisfaction can be found by the time the credits start rolling; again, both she and we are left utterly alone. It’s then that a primal fear takes hold of you. When we’re completely disoriented like that, there’s no telling what terrors our minds might conjure up they can so easily creep upon us. All they need is to hide right before our eyes; and more often than not it’s Johnny who does it. And trust me when I say this: you do not want to be caught off guard by him, or any other horror villain for that matter.

In A Violent Nature had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it played as part of their Midnight lineup, and will later release on Shudder/IFC Films this year!

Watch In a Violent Nature For Free On Gomovies.