In a Violent Nature

 

         Yes, this is very much a slasher film and there are indeed, gory kills, however it is very original in it's "execution". Writer and director Chris Nash approaches the genre as if he had studied under director Terrence Malick.

         The story is set deep in the Canadian woods. When a locket necklace serving as a talisman is taken off a grave, a silent killer crawls out of the earth, going on a killing spree to retrieve the locket. A group of seven friends camping in the woods have the locket and they are the targets of the killer known only as Johnny.

          There is no score or music of any kind (except for some background music coming through headphones). Rather Mr. Nash uses ambient sounds of the forest, including the killer's heavy steps, along with natural lighting to create a most unusual environment for a slasher film. The visual effects, prosthetics, and makeup are excellent.

          For most of the film, the POV is from behind the killer as we watch him lumber through the woods. Time moves slowly as he makes his way through a visually stunning forest to dispatch each victim in, at times, very creative and frankly disgusting ways.

           The film stars Ry Barrett as Johnny (who wears an unusual mask but unlike iconic killer Jason Voorhees, we do get to see his face). Co-starring are Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Sam Roulston, Alexander Oliver, Timothy Paul McCarthy and Lauren Taylor.

             While the film contains many standard slasher tropes, Mr. Nash goes out of his way to deconstruct what we expect and and turn the genre into something new and different. 

            

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