The most wonderful part of Chris Nash’s hyperviolent slasher experiment, “In a Violent Nature”, is that it is not horrifying. At least not in the traditional sense as for example the films that he appears to be emulating leave the same impression as ‘Friday the 13’ movies. There are no sudden violent shocks, very few moments of decidedly high-wire tension, and no real doubt as to who the final girl is going to be. And yet somehow, especially because it turns the dynamics of a slasher film on its head, “Violent Nature” goes on to become one of the very best and most interesting, surprisingly calm horror films of the year. This is exactly the kind of thing that the film invites you to envision the day in the life of Jason Voorhees an average guy infused with the demonic spirit whose sole point of existence is to cause chaos, terror and disembowel the people.
What may seem like simple premises is actually very well thought shot in Ontario with an anthropologist’s camera, “In a Violent Nature” follows for so much of its time an unstoppable horror killer by the nickname of ‘Johnny’ who is busy bloodletting any unfortunate trucker, teen, or park ranger that happens to be around. The film opens with whispering voices in the Canadian woods, speaking about the ‘White Pines massacre’ as they play with a charity locket they found beneath a fire watch tower. While we don’t see them take the locket off, the subsequent movements beneath the mud and leaves do suggest that a place of significance has indeed been invaded. Before that however, he stands up and wordlessly walks through the forest, the locket, and the group of screaming teenagers who snatched it away in his mind.
Although this is an easily recognizable structure, its inversion and stylistic approach put it in a Malickish sort of filmmaking perspective. For a good part of its duration, it is absolutely appropriate to admit, ‘that In a Violent Nature’ is more of walk time than any activity pearl Derk’s camera tracks down Johnny while he roams the forests in between the trees looking for the fresh kill which pushes the boundaries of camerawork adding a game like third person view of the world as the camera slowly pans behind the protagonist. These stretches are quiet, patient, and paradoxically soothing; ‘Dead by Daylight’ through the eyes of A24 cinema. Only occasionally does the camera leave the first-person view of the character called as Johnny, even rarer do we see his face: in twisted and blemished fusion, cut-off hands filled with embers in anger and grief.
This can be challenging for a viewer however he eventually manages to understand the logic and more importantly the prevailing atmosphere: his prey never utters a word or makes a sound: why he is a man of the alpha does not need explaining. As violence is portrayed as effortless, implying that gauging into their spraying blood is merely a chore, they are the victims of the active principle of a logging community, quite literally forced to die as a future boy taking revenge.
Johnny’s backstory has some pretty nasty touches; which include a smoke mask and some woodcutting equipment. Later on in the story, kids are rescued by a park ranger named Reece Presley who, due to his dialogue, is implied to have fought this monster before. Which is a nice touch, suggesting that we are watching the last sequence of Johnny’s films. It’s an interesting method of information dissemination as well, Nash forcing us to watch the typical conventions of a horror flick cascade into the edges.
All of this however is not scary we see Johnny all the time so, we are hardly ever left in the dark about his whereabouts, how far he is from his targets, or when he would make a move. If anything, Nash relishes this for his dark sense of humor, for we do not need jump scares to see that the usual poolside socializing and cabin-in-the-woods biopic arguments turn deadly. But Nash also understands that we are bloodthirsty which is why Johnny’s slaughters are perhaps the best in history books gory and outrageous! Trees act as lumberjacks for heads that are slowly and mercilessly cleaved in half a yoga lover’s extensibility is explained well beyond what she anticipated; a log splitter is wielded in all the ways your sick mind would imagine. The kids do their darnedest to fight back, or even to run away if they can, and their growing helplessness becomes more funny when Johnny approaches them slowly at an even pace. And yes, Nash hints at this from the beginning, as certain trucker hats suggest, he is the Motherfucker.
For as complex as started the film “Violent Nature”, I think there was a lingering sense that even its aggressive runtime wasn’t going to make it able to outlast its premise in so far as originality goes. This inherently feels quite right for Nash as more pertinently focused parts of the personality make an appearance showcasing the chain of events leading towards strength, at last, escaping him, which clearly was only expected. Now this is an interesting concept, and there are elements in this sequence that work, such as Nash’s anti-rug pullover a monotonous drive away from an ominous crime site along Lauren Marie Taylor’s performative mysterious character. However, the central theme of the movie rather restricts us from even accumulating the prior notions of what this woman looks like or any back detail of her streets, which considering the movie trash time frame seems quite a waste of about two minutes max, makes it seem as though the whole movie is about to end until the very backward appealing subtlety pointer moves into perspective, and draws the closest attention away from all the action anticipation behind Johnny’s axe swinging skill.
“In a Violent Nature” caught me very close to home because it is a film that despite having a massive bloodbath has such an eye for detail in its atmosphere, something that is admirable for an up-and-coming director. And whether we see further sequels for Johnny in this epic rampage for zzz in which case I genuinely doubt the creative method for this movie would remain interesting.
Regardless of the outcome, this is an impressive exhibition of Nash’s methodical, cunning intellect and perhaps a sign of what is in store for the future with him.
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