How tense can a horror movie really be if we basically know the location of the killer the whole time? This is the core question at play in Chris Nash's In a Violent Nature, a slasher that wears its masked murderer firmly on its screen.
A campfire kill-a-thon with a twist, the film is shot largely from the perspective of the killer himself, with the viewer following in the third person as Johnny (Ry Barret) stomps through the woods like a bashed-up, vengeful Terminator.
It's an interesting idea, but does it make for a fun movie?
What's In a Violent Nature about?
The central story is pretty stock horror fare: A young group of friends camping in the Canadian wilderness stumble across something strange in the woods that they should absolutely leave alone. In this case, it's a golden locket hanging next to a ruined fire tower. One of them makes the always-stupid mistake of taking said locket, awakening an undead killer who bursts from the earth to get his precious jewellery back.
What follows is 90 minutes of beautiful landscape shots, teen tension, campfire stories, and a series of deaths so gory they'll almost make you laugh out loud.
If you looked at the plot alone, you'd say In a Violent Nature is about as cookie cutter as a slasher movie can get. But of course, the narrative isn't really the point here. It's the style. Centring the killer's point of view is a gamble that turns the whole genre on its head while paying homage to killer POV classics like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Deep Red, and countless others.
So does it work?
Does a horror shot from the killer's perspective work?
The short answer is yes. At least for the most part. For the bulk of the movie, the camera hovers somewhere behind Johnny's broad shoulders as he makes his slow, unrelenting way through the forest towards his next victim. There's an inevitability to Johnny's nonstop trudging that heightens the tension in a way you don't really expect.
The device could get repetitive, but crucially Nash knows when enough's enough — at several key moments in the film, including the campfire origin story that introduces us to the core characters, he switches the perspective up. As we meet the group, the camera focuses on their little circle as they exchange jokes and stories, and the suspense is heightened because we know the omniscient Johnny is looming somewhere just beyond the firelight.
Johnny's lack of predictability also keeps things engaging. Although he trudges around like a robot half the time, somehow undetected, he's clearly equipped with animalistic instincts that make him hide on occasion, pounce on others. The methods in which he dispatches his victims — a couple of which are so horrifically original they're almost artistic — also keep us guessing.
Sound plays a unique role in the movie. Along with Johnny's thudding footsteps and the soundscape of the wilderness we also catch snippets of dialogue from a distance — little half-heard snatches of conversation that hint at other storylines, and which almost make you want to rewatch certain scenes to see what you missed.
It's a clever device that works in some ways, but also highlights one of the movie's main issues.
Is there anything bad about In a Violent Nature?
It's not enough to spoil the film's style, but In a Violent Nature does have a problem with characterisation. Specifically, the lack of it. Because we're predominantly following Johnny through the woods we don't get quality time with his future victims, which means it's a little hard to care when someone gets an axe to the head.
We do get some glimpses into the lives and relationships of the people he's stalking, but what we do see is mostly two-dimensional. There's the moody, jealous boyfriend, the funny one, the other man, the final girl. We're only allowed to see what Johnny sees, which isn't really enough to make us root for his victims, and instead adds to the mindless brutality of his rampage.
Still, that's not enough to ruin things. In a Violent Nature is a fun squirm-fest with visuals to delight and appall and which, like Johnny, we'd be more than willing to return to in the years to come.
How to watch: In a Violent Nature is in theaters from May 31.
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