In A Violent Nature - New Release Review
Director: Chris Nash
Starring: Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Charlotte Creaghan, Cameron Love, Liam Leone
Written by: Chris Nash
Produced by: Shannon Hanmer, Peter Kuplowsky
Cinematography by: Pierce Derks
Synopsis:
When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it.
Thoughts:
In this day and age it's so difficult to bring anything new to the horror genre, but in particular to the slasher sub-genre, which for half a century has been providing some of the best, most inventive and tensely entertaining films the horror genre has ever produced, some of which have had a great cross-over appeal.
Sadly I don't see 'In A Violent Nature' having much cross-over appeal to non-horror fans or even non-slasher fans but if you're a hardcore fan of the sub-genre then it'll be difficult to not get on board with this one. Violent by name and violent by nature. Chris Nash's imaginative slasher is fascinating to watch with some excessively sanguinary scenes and one kill in particular that is a "must see" that I believe, and please correct me if I'm wrong, has never been done before. It was both horrifying and excruciatingly satisfying in equal measures. You might want to look away but instead will probably end up rubbing your hands together with a huge, maniacal grin on your face.
All of the kills, and most of the film for that matter, is shown from the perspective of the killer, although not in classic POV. The camera follows the killer slowly from behind for the most part ala Gus Van Sant. The camera angles vary at times but always lingering close to the killer's proximity in all accounts instead of spending too much time with the victims. Because of this we don't really get a chance to get to know any of the characters, which in turn means we don't really have any reason to root for them. In all honesty we're really rooting for the killer here, which usually happens when you get deep into the sequels of a slasher franchise.
The film is beautifully shot and because of the purposful and necessarily slow camera work we get to enjoy all the glorious forestry scenery that's captured in the entire frame. Your enjoyment of the film will likely depend on how much you can endure the initial slow pace. I personally enjoyed it and in terms of actual plot it wasn't slow at all but by the nature of how the film was structured and laid out, I could understand some people's reservations.
'In A Violent Nature' really is all about the kills. It's very minimalistic and doesn't rely on the building of a musical score to help intensify any of the action sequences, which is the norm in the genre. Obviously highly influenced by 80s classics like 'Friday the 13th' and 'The Burning', the backstory feels like a regurgitation but the simplified motives of the killer is actually refreshing. And not having to invest any time into characters was equally refreshing. However it does become a little tiresome after the initial few kills and the gimmick does begin to lose a bit of steam. The lack of music and variation doesn't make it the most exciting watch despite some of the gruesome and exhilarating murders.
There's a scene towards the end that drags just a little bit more than you'd expect and it works all the better for it as it's truly a testament to how well Nash has ingrained the killer into our minds. However the end sequence is let down a little bit by the final girl's phoned in reactions. It's a million miles away from Marilyn Burns eardrum bursting wailing at the end of 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'.
Chris Nash comes from a special effects make-up background and he loves showing off all the blood and guts and sinew and this is a really great effort for his debut feature film. It might be a bit frustrating at times but 'In A Violent Nature' is a fun, inventively gory slasher that ticks almost all the boxes and looks great doing it.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
-Gavin Logan
'In A Violent Nature' is released in UK cinemas on July 12th
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