In a Violent Nature: An Evolution of the Slasher

In a Violent Nature is a massive leap in the right direction for the slasher genre. In a time where neo-slashers such as It Follows, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and Green Room reign supreme, pushing the slasher forward by means of genre-melding and modern social commentary, In a Violent Nature brings the genre back to its roots. The film boils the slasher to its truest essence, while still offering a post-modern twist, breathing a new life into the genre unseen since 2011's The Cabin in the Woods.

The film was a quiet hit for IFC earlier this year, grossing over $2m in its opening weekend on a budget of reportedly less than $500k, and has now racked up over $4.5m worldwide. It’s the debut feature film from Writer/Director Chris Nash, who previously directed the final segment in the 2014 horror anthology film, The ABC’s of Death 2. Nash’s segment “Z is for Zygote” is one of the most disgusting and unhinged horror shorts I have ever seen, and it has stuck with me vividly since seeing it nearly a decade ago — I won’t spoil the concept for you here, but if you know, you know.

Chris Nash truly understands the genre he’s working within here. In a Violent Nature is a deconstruction, a throwback, and an homage all in one, and takes “from the killer’s POV” to whole other level. On paper, the script presents itself as a typical slasher: under-developed archetypal characters, cheesy exposition-heavy dialogue, and clichés galore in an almost tongue-in-cheek sort of way.

However, the film is shot with brooding arthouse sensibilities, and edited to a snail’s pace. Most of the dialogue takes place in the background of the frame, or offscreen entirely. There’s a purposeful dichotomy of tone and style at play here, which serves to deconstruct and subvert so many of the classic tropes of the genre throughout the film.

Instead of bombarding us with sudden jump-scares and musical stings to evoke fright, In A Violent Nature builds a creeping dread by letting the audience stew in the inevitability of each character’s demise through extended oners and crawling action. Stylistically, In a Violent Nature sits much closer to Kyle Edward Ball’s Skinamarink than your typical woodsy slasher flick. While decidedly less analog and experimental, it is equally as liminal and subversive.

In a typical slasher, we’d primarily spend our time with the rowdy youths, with the killer only making an appearance to pick off the teens one by one. Inversely here, we spend the majority of this film with the killer in the space between kills, lumbering silently through the woods for extended periods of time, with the other characters only appearing to us in their moment of slaughter or attempted escape.

Understandably, this film is not without its vocal detractors. Horror fans have some of the most specific tastes of all moviegoers due to the vastness and diversity of the genre itself. Chances are, if you polled a hundred horror fans and asked “What kind of horror movies do you like?” you’d get a hundred distinct answers. The fans know what they like, and that's what they want. So, when it comes to films that push the boundaries of a certain subgenre, especially one as structured and familiar as the beloved slasher, it can be particularly difficult to please the horror fandom en masse.

Remember, The Thing was an utter critical and commercial failure in 1982, The Shining received Razzie nominations for Worst Director and Worst Actress, and even films such as Possession, American Psycho, Jennifer’s Body, and The Blair Witch Project all had mixed reviews upon release with varying levels of box office success.

In a Violent Nature is a niche film. It’s artsy, it’s experimental, and it is polarizing by design. Especially in the case of a debut film from an unknown director, many audience members had no way of knowing what they were walking into. I’m sure many people bought tickets for the film based on premise and aesthetic, expecting a spiritual successor to Friday the 13th.

Similarly to what happened with Skinamarink, In a Violent Nature was a massive hit within its niche and reached a point of exposure where it found itself on the radar of many people outside the intended audience. While it certainly helped the box office, it did no favors to the audience ratings.

The film purposely alienates the audience in its slowness and becomes meditative in its silence. At a certain point, the film becomes about where your thoughts drifts to during these moments of moody narrative sparsity. In this way, each viewer is able to have a completely unique experience to be discussed with friends after the credits roll.

But of course, not every audience member is up for this kind of active viewership. Many would rather turn their brain off for a more straightforward killfest full of blood, boobs, and booze instead of 10 minute bouts of OTS gimbal shots of the killer walking through a dimly lit forest. In a Violent Nature is not a film for everyone, and it’s not trying to be.

A film like In a Violent Nature requires an open mind and a lot of patience. If you’re a fan of other slow/experimental horror films like Skinamarink, The VVitch, and Antichrist, or the works of slow cinema masters such as Gus Van Sant, Andrei Tarkovsky, or Terrence Malick, you may get something out of this. On the flipside, if your pantheon of horror holds more traditional films such as Scream, Get Out, Pearl, Insidious, or A Quiet Place, you may find yourself frustrated with this one.

That being said, the film is not without its share of death and gore. As the name would suggest, In a Violent Nature delivers in this respect, oftentimes tenfold. Many of the kills happen at a distance and/or in an unflinchingly long take. The film forces you to be present in these moments as an omniscient observer. The lack of sensationalism in much of the violence adds a sense of unsettling realism which makes you squirm and white-knuckle your seat throughout the tense buildup until the last breath of each victim. The drowning scene is reminiscent of that harrowing beach scene from Under the Skin, the scene with the mechanical log splitter is brutal in its slow deliberation, and the cliffside yoga scene is surely one of this decade’s kills-to-beat so far.

In a Violent Nature is no perfect film by any means. There are some technical hiccups, and the film faced heavy re-shoots due to several production issues on an already tight budget. However, the team’s commitment and passion shines through in a massive achievement for indie filmmaking, and is a breath of fresh air for a dying subgenre that many people consider to have grown stagnant. This is a sign of a new direction for slashers, and I expect us to see an increasing number of indie horror filmmakers take inspiration from In a Violent Nature throughout the rest of the decade and beyond.

In a Violent Nature is currently available on VOD and will land on Shudder on Friday, September 13th. A sequel has already been announced with Chris Nash presumably returning to write and direct. A release date is unknown, but I expect to see it grace the silver screen sooner than later.