It’s rare that a horror film adds something truly new to the genre, but independent slasher In A Violent Nature offers an intriguing premise.
A group of teenagers take a locket that resurrects the rotting remains of a man called Johnny. His faced covered by a gas mask, he hunts down the group one by one in retribution for the theft, while flashbacks reveal his tortured origins.
What’s different about the film is that, for the most part, the story is filmed and told from the point of view of the killer. The lens looms ominously over Johnny’s shoulder, while the youths are dispatched by increasingly horrific methods (one murder will leave you looking at yoga in a whole new way).
It’s inventive in a way that recalls The Blair Witch Project, incorporating shaky handheld shots and mayhem in the woods, as well as aspects of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The cinematography and sound design, which favours natural sound over ominous music, both have an appealing art house style.
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However, what’s left is a straight up kill fest, which becomes hard to stomach as the gore piles up. Even the film’s ending, which turns convention on its head, feels impressive but emotionally empty. This is horror that’s polished, rather than elevated.
If ten Saw movies just wasn’t enough for you, In a Violent Nature takes a new approach to torture porn that will surely establish writer-director Chris Nash as a promising name in the genre. However, his debut would have felt a lot more impactful with some humanity behind the bloodshed.
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