Movie Review: In a Violent Nature

The experimental slasher movie In a Violent Nature begins with a static shot of a locket dangling amid the rubble of an old fire tower as we hear the voices of a group of friends chatting outside. They seem to agree that the site is creepy and best left alone, but as they begin to leave, one reaches into the frame and snatches the necklace. Moments later the ground begins to move and a human figure emerges from beneath. It is later explained that he is known as Johnny and the locket belonged to his late mother. It is also the only thing keeping him trapped underground, where he was placed years ago after going on a killing spree. Now he is free, wants the locket back, and will stop at nothing to get it.

The majority of the movie follows Johnny as he lumbers through the Canadian wilderness, with the group of friends moving through the periphery unaware he is stalking them. It’s a genuinely unique spin on the format that works surprisingly well. The woods are framed beautifully and the serenity of these extended sequences in nature serves as a striking juxtaposition to the cruelly inventive fates that await the campers. Speaking of which, many of the kills in this movie will easily rank among the genre’s most notoriously grisly and are likely to shock even hardened horror aficionados. Where sometimes the use of gore effects achieves little more than shock, here the extreme nature of the death sequences generates a great deal of tension, leaving the audience wondering where writer and director Chris Nash will take us next, and more than a little afraid to find out.

There are some issues with the film, most prominently the mixed quality of the performances, and the story is pretty thin even by slasher standards. That winds up being easy to ignore however, as everything builds to one of the most suspenseful final sequences in recent cinema. The last act trick is one that won’t work on repeat viewings but watching it the first time should have many hearts racing. I wouldn’t say this is the best horror movie of the year, but it might be the scariest, and Nash has proved himself to be a filmmaker worth watching. ★★★★