The Reel Review

C+

Friends renting a cabin in the remote Canadian wilderness are systematically slaughtered after one of them steals a locket from the site of a collapsed, long-abandoned fire tower, unleashing a mute, mythical killer, in this gore-filled horror/thriller.

Ry Barrett in In A Violent Nature

In A Violent Nature is not so much scary as it is a very slow moving slaughterfest that starts off interestingly from the perspective of the killer, with some profoundly gnarly kills of the almost universally unlikable characters. The kill involving the yoga girl, underscored by the killer’s chillingly deliberate mutilation, is a particular jaw dropper. The horror, juxtaposed to the natural beauty and sounds of the surrounding woodlands, is further heightened by a lack of score.

Ry Barrett and Charlotte Creaghan in In A Violent Nature

The main problem with writer/director Chris Nash’s film debut is that, despite a seemingly endless array of monotonous shots (and jump cuts) of the killer walking in the woods, he fails to fully follow through with his intriguing “from the killer” perspective, instead, heaping on a ridiculous amount of pointless torture porn, which muddles the tone of the otherwise unique film. There are more unintended chuckles than the desired shocks. The film is also hampered by some overly long scenes (the campfire, the car ride) and technically sloppy camerawork and audio in its disjointed third act. In A Violent Nature is a cool concept that, besides some truly horrific gore, otherwise falls short in its execution.

REEL FACTS

Left: Lauren-Marie Taylor in Friday the 13th Part 2 and right:  Taylor today

• The woman driver in the third act is played by Lauren-Marie Taylor, who played Vickie in 1981’s Friday the 13th Part 2.

• The low budget film has already earned more than $2 million at the box office, making it IFC Films’ second highest grossing film of all time, after 2024’s Late Night with the Devil.

• Filming began in central Ontario, Canada, near the Kawartha Lakes area, before moving to Algoma district in Ontario, in 2021.

 

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