In A Violent Nature (reviewed by Lisa Marie Bowman)

Johnny was perfectly happy being dead until some obnoxious college friends came across a locket hanging off of a fire tower.  The locket was what kept Johnny’s soul at rest.  When one of the group decided to take the locket so that he could give it to his girlfriend, Johnny came back to life.

Already haunted by the tragic memories of his life and how a bunch of bullies murdered him by tricking him into falling off of the tower, Johnny is determined to retrieve the locket.  Slowly and methodically, he walks through the wilderness, killing everyone that he encounters as he searches for the one thing that will….

Well, it’s a slasher movie!  You know how these things go!

Released in 2024 and directed by Chris Nash, In A Violent Nature‘s plot may be typical slasher stuff but the way the story is told makes the film unique.  Nash tells the story almost totally from the point of view of the undead Johnny.  The camera follows Johnny as he makes his way through the woods and what we learn about him and his motivations largely comes from the snippets of conversations that we hear from people in the distance.  As such, this is the rare slasher movie that requires that one actually pay attention to what is being said.  It’s also a rare slasher movie that requires a good deal of patience on the part of the viewers.  Johnny moves slowly and so does the movie.  Though the kills are certainly bloody and there are plenty of genuinely frightening moments, the film is ultimately more about the sight of hulking, single-minded Johnny walking through the woods and through fields of brilliantly green grass than anything else.  If Terence Malick made a slasher movie, it would look a lot like In A Violent Nature.

And that’s great if you’re a fan of both Malick and horror, as I am.  If you prefer your slasher films to be a bit more traditional and less self-consciously esoteric in their approach, you might wonder what all of the hype was about.  In A Violent Nature is one of those films that the viewer will either love or the viewer will give up on after several minutes of watching Johnny staring out at the lake.  It’s an experimental film and, like all experimental films, it’s not for everyone.  That said, if you have the patience for it, it’s an engrossing and off-beat slasher flick.