What intrigues me most about Chris Nash’s hyperviolent slasher experiment “In a Violent Nature” is that it is not at all scary. At least, not in light of the splatter films that inspired him most, such as the good old “Friday the 13th” series. Unlike popular horror movies, this film lacks jump scares and wire bouts, and there is no suspense as to who is the final girl. Regardless, “Violent Nature” is one of the most remarkable, unusually calm horror films of the current year due to the fact that it turns the logic of the slasher inside out and encourages people to think about how Jason Voorhees would behave. Jason is simply a man, who erupted in a demonic explosion, and who wakes up for work every day to gut people.
The idea is deceptively basic Shot in Ontario with a careful, anthropological gaze, “In a Violent Nature” follows a No Holds Barred monster dubbed Johnny as he goes about the business of exsanguination. Some poor trucker, teenager, or even a park ranger, gets exsanguinated. We hear whispers in the Canadian woods of the “White Pines slaughter” as well as a groupovski great mystery when they try to examine a locket buried under a fire tower. This piece of jewelry was not seen removed which automatically gave rise to rumblings that carried to the mud and leaves where something sacred had been buried inside. Soon, he sits up and makes his way through the thicket towards wherever the locket and the horror movie teenage kids who took it.
The viewing angle of “In a Violent Nature” is quite novel and unique, beyond the notion of how the entire depiction is styled. The work incorporates fundamental tropes from AA23 in slaving Johnson’s character twists and turns harshly. The overall experience is even elevated by Pierce Derk’s vivid expletory work that adds additional focus and deeply engages one in the proceeding narrative. These segments are subdued, contemplative, and somehow soothing think of “A24” combined with “Dead by Daylight” berättande. Only once in a while do we get to see Johnny through the lens of a camera that does not depict his vision, and even more rarely do we revel in the true horror pervasive in the sight of a melted face on the overused tortured hands seeking revenge for something.
A palpable sense of horror comes with the violation, the impression that one is inflicted with acts of torture as well as violence. The tale of another doomed virtuous creature who was brainwashed and sacrificed to appease the angered gods somewhere in a fluid fuzzy setting is daughterly quiet and accelerates the mood as well.
Johnny’s life revolves around aggressive tools like woodcutting tools and a smoke mask which exudes his torture modus operandi. A ranger Reece Presley aids children in the latter half of the movie, suggesting he had fought the beast long ago, hinting we’re viewing the latter part of the series chronicling Johnny. This is a very clever pattern of unfolding information in the horror flicks as Nash makes the audience keep on searching for the normal scenes in the horror show.
As I earlier said, nothing is terrifying because there are times when we receive information about Johnny such as his whereabouts, how close he is to his victims, and when he is likely to attack. If anything, it lets Nash incorporate dark humor into the film because he assumes that it would be inappropriate to include jump scares where such arguments in a cabin or flirtations in a pool would do Nash. But Nash understands that there is a craving that needs to be fulfilled which is why Johnny is one of the more sadistic characters in recent depictions. With a tree a woman’s head is slowly sliced through, a girl obsessed with yoga is taken to the limits; a log splitter is used in unspeakable directions. There is a limit that needs to be observed too which the kids never fail to meet, so they are worn down as Johnny stops moving towards them. He is indeed, the all-time hottest mum, as one trucker hat suggests at the start.
In every way possible “Violent Nature” is pure, unadulterated balderdash. There sans a doubt comes a point in the film where it elicits sheer disgust and pure contempt at the audacity it showcases. For against the degenerative nature of this film which can only be classified as risograph, it inverts all tropes present in media time and time again, and the reveal near the end is honestly unrivaled, I really can’t say much in fear of spoilers however, a rough summary would be this, the ending showcases a plot twist. Shocking I know.
And now shifting complementing the negatives of this film, the graphics of the film were honestly very well done and polished, right from the first frame a quest for maximum realism kicks starts, and once the film is concluded it is safe to say that the tasks of immersing the viewer into the world of violence were done to perfection. It is worth giving a thunderous round of applause to Malice films as the attention to detail given to not just the graphics but the sound design too is seldom experienced while watching a movie.
Regardless, this is a wonderful display of Nash’s cunning side and I hope this serves as a signal for his next big move.
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