Director: Chris Nash
Screenplay: Chris Nash
Starring: Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic and Lauren Taylor
Country: Canada
Running Time: 94 mins
Year: 2024
When I first heard about the concept for director Chris Nash’s feature debut, In a Violent Nature, I was instantly sold. Billed as a mixture between a Friday the 13th-style slasher with queues taken from the slow cinema of Gus Van Sant and Terrence Malick, I was beyond intrigued. Not just that, but the entire film takes place from the perspective of the slasher villain, instead of random throwaway characters that only exist for gory kills. The question is, does the experiment work or did Nash and company fail to deliver on the premise?
Immediately off the bat, I have to commend the team for their attempt at blending both of these genres, which are almost polar opposites of each other (quick thrills from a slasher/the slow methodical pace of a slow cinema film) and while elements of In a Violent Nature impressed me, I left the overall experience wanting a little more.
After some friends find themselves messing around near the burial ground of our titular protagonist/antagonist Johnny, he rises from his grave to get back the locket that accompanied his resting place. Throughout the course of the film, we follow Johnny as he travels from location to location, tracking down these friends and hoping to retrieve his locket. On the way, he massacres all of those in his path in increasingly brutal methods, with a particular kill midway through the movie being an all-timer slasher kill (no spoilers but you’ll know the one when you’ve seen the film).
In terms of what the film gets right, it’s the practical effects and visual effects utilised for the kills in the film. Mixed with the excellent sound design, every thud, every breaking bone, every head explosion feels authentic and will please any gore hound looking for some great slasher kills. The look of the film is great, with it being shot in 1.37:1, making every aspect of this journey following Johnny work better than it has any right to.
The main issues I had with the film lie within the slow cinema side of things, and not for the reasons that most people have with the film. I’ve noticed a lot of people complain that the film’s dull during the moments of Johnny walking through the woods, but my big takeaway was how often the film would cut midway through an unbroken shot to speed things up, taking away from the vibe and atmosphere that the film was trying to sell me on. I’d have happily taken a 110 minute version of this film where each sequence with Johnny was uninterrupted and unbroken, over a two minute scene that’s clearly edited to speed up the process. With the film exceeding when it came to the slasher side of things, I was hoping it’d wow me with the other half too, but unfortunately, I was left disappointed by that side of the film.
Also, the characterisation for some of the human characters (which there aren’t many, but there’s a few crucial scenes involving them) didn’t work for me either, with the writing feeling sluggish in a way that didn’t benefit the film, but given that this is Nash’s feature debut, it’s easy to understand why the focus wasn’t on these mostly throwaway characters. Keeping the review as spoiler free as possible, the finale of the film is something that took me a while to figure out how I felt about it, and I think it’s mostly solid, although some of the dialogue didn’t work for me. It’s an ambitious way to end the film and I commend Nash for that.
Overall, In a Violent Nature is a slasher that aims high, but doesn’t always make the landing. There’s some incredible kills that will please horror fans, an interesting attempt at combining the slow cinema and slasher genres that occasionally works well, and it only has me more excited to see what director Chris Nash does in the future. If you’re somebody who’s tired of the endless horror remakes, sequels and adaptations that are out on a weekly basis, give In a Violent Nature a chance, you might come away with a new favourite!
Film: 
In a Violent Nature released on DVD and Blu-ray September 30th courtesy of Altitude and it looks solid. The transfer is crisp, maintains high bit-rates throughout and there’s nothing to complain about there. Audio wise, there’s two tracks to choose from, English 2.0 PCM and English 5.1 DTS-HD MA. I checked out both tracks and you can’t go wrong with either, but if you have the right audio set-up, the 5.1 is a must. Optional HOH English subtitles are included.
Some trailers run before you get to the main menu, advertising other Altitude releases and apart from a theatrical trailer for Violent Nature, there’s no extras included. It’s a massive shame, considering the upcoming US release seems to be packed with audio commentaries, a making-of, storyboards, behind-the-scenes footage and more. Given the budget nature of this release, it makes sense and it does only retail for £12.99, which is great for a brand-new film but the lack of any real extras is disappointing.
Overall, In a Violent Nature’s Blu-ray release offers solid audio and video quality, but lacks any substantial extras. Multi-region collectors may want to wait for the upcoming US release, but if you’re only after the film, you can’t go wrong with this one.
Disc/Packaging: 
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