by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $12.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Lauren-Marie Taylor
Intro:
… a worthy attempt at doing something a little different with the well-worn genre.
There are hundreds of slasher movies in this weird world of ours. Some of them are great, many are mediocre, and a shitload are simply terrible. However, there aren’t many like In a Violent Nature, the feature debut from Canadian director Chris Nash, that posits a slasher movie (almost) completely from the point of view of the killer. It’s a fascinating idea in concept, albeit not always in execution, but a worthy attempt at doing something a little different with the well-worn genre.
In a Violent Nature is the story of a group of young people who, for reasons opaque to anyone not of a similar age, muck about with the final resting place of a serial killer and pocket a locket that hangs nearby. Said serial killer, Johnny (Ry Barrett), is none too pleased about this development and rises from his grave and slowly, methodically, begins trudging after the thieves who woke him. He walks, and walks, and walks. And just when you think he can’t walk anymore… he continues walking.
Johnny loves a stroll.
Eventually, Johnny comes in contact with those who have stolen the locket, or just some annoying randos, and kills them in graphically violent, surprisingly creative ways (the yoga girl is a highlight) and then he goes back to his favourite form of leisurely perambulation.
In a Violent Nature is an odd film. Director Chris Nash pitches it as “Gus Van Sant directing a Friday the 13th sequel” but that doesn’t quite convey how anti-narrative the whole caper feels. You literally spend most of the film watching a bulky dude walk slowly through beautiful Canadian forest. It’s quite Zen in a way, but for anyone hoping for a pacy stab-em-up, you should probably look elsewhere. The movie also kind of cheats its own conceit in the third act in a fashion that isn’t entirely satisfying.
Still and all, it’s hard not to respect the chutzpah of Nash and crew for undertaking such a bizarre venture and, with a decent showing at the box office and a sequel coming, it seems to have paid off. Whether that means you enjoy it or not is another matter, but In a Violent Nature is nonetheless a unique entity.
