CW: brief graphic description of violence
Horror movie common sense 101: Probably best not to take creepy lockets from deserted parks, especially not after hearing those with rumours of gruesome murders haunting the area and most definitely not when the rumours are stories that belong to locals, almost taboo to speak of.
Chris Nash’s In a Violent Nature (2024) is a slow-paced horror film packed with gore that has you wondering ‘where is this going?’ as you follow the characters through the metaphorical slashing of Slasher tropes.
The plot is recognisable: a masked killer follows a group of people around, hoping to get revenge based on a personal vendetta disguised as a miscarriage of justice. Johnny (Ry Barrett), the spirit of a boy in the form of a rotting corpse — and our protagonist/villain — is awoken after the theft of a locket mindlessly committed by a group of teens to his resting place.The film then follows the spirit of Johnny through his rampage to reunite with the locket that was once holding him in his resting place.
What was particularly intriguing was the fact that we spend the entire runtime of the film following Johnny’s perspective, and not that of the victims. The camera often follows behind him almost as if we are there, an accomplice to the preying upon others. Yet at times it definitely starts to drag on a bit as there’s only so much slow and loud walking you can watch before you begin to get distracted and wonder when the next piece of action will happen.
As for the stylistic choices, the filmmaking exceeds the typical norm of the genre from starting off with what could be described as quasi-freeze frames and close-ups that rely purely on diegetic sound – guided by character interaction outside of the shot.
Unaccompanied by music, the film strays away from relying on ominous music to set the scene, emphasising Johnny’s loud thumping footsteps, the natural sounds of the forest and the voices of the teens to create a scary atmosphere. By combining natural sounds with the goreness and brutality of the killings visible all throughout the film, the characters never have music to hide behind and we the viewer are not afforded the reminder that the plot is a contrived creation. When Johnny is stalking the future victims the sole presence of diegetic sounds paints an eerie atmosphere as he perversely observes behind windows, uncomfortable to watch.
While I don’t find myself intensely affected by horror films and tropes, the one thing that gets me and is a testament to the successful use of storytelling devices is a jumpscare. However, in this film they are notably absent. That being said, I don’t think this film was made simply to be another scary movie, rather a project for Nash to experiment with and bend the limitations of the horror genre; the gory nature more prominent than the current trend of amplifying the psychological torment.
If you are someone easily freaked by blood and guts in movies, cover your eyes because in this one, Nash dives into the gruesome. In a Violent Nature definitely lives up to its namesake, the most violent kill (warning for the squeamish) being when the killer places a large hook in the victim’s head and pulls her head through her stomach out through her back. I’ll admit, I winced while watching it, unable to recall a time I’ve seen something so graphic in a horror film other than Jigsaw.
The story goes typically within horror films that the monster or killer is eventually defeated, destroyed (if they are supernatural) or arrested. Normality is then restored and despite the mass amount of bloodshed that has occurred and trauma that the one survivor faces, everyone is fine and dandy. However here the viewer is left to contend with a semi-open ending and more than a few ominous shots. This is a refreshing change from the usual sudden resolution as Nash prompts audiences to reconsider the events of the entire film… and also make way for the sequel, announced on July 27. Turns out the open ending was not so arbitrary after all…
In A Violent Nature (2024) is in Australian cinemas exclusively from August 1-4.
