A gaunt, pallid-faced man relentlessly stalks, torments and terrifies his victims. He is cursed with a sociopathic lack of feeling, driven by seriously traumatic mommy issues — and seems to be a real fan of trees. But enough about Dear Evan Hansen .
We're here to talk about In a Violent Nature , a horror whose social media marketing largely sells the movie as an "ambient slasher" told, uniquely, from the killer's perspective — a loose Jason Voorhees analogue whose hulking, meat hook-toting self simply swaps Friday the 13th 's vintage goalie's mask for a vintage fireman's and calls it a day. But that's not to say this is a shallow ripoff — far from it. Written and directed by Chris Nash and produced by fellow Canadian Peter Kuplowsky, In a Violent Nature is as up to its ears in horror chops, convolutedly gruesome kills and artistic leanings as The House that Jack Built , Hannibal or True Detective 's good seasons.
But unfortunately for us all, subversions do not a classic make. In a Violent Nature is a cool subversion of horror, but without actually saying all that much — or rather, getting it across effectively. And an arthouse slasher without a substantive message is, in the end, just a less entertaining slasher.
In a Violent Nature 's plot on paper is relatively thin. Far in the remote-enough mining towns of northern Ontario, a cursed corpse, Johnny, rises from his grave — disturbed by a group of brash city kids too cool to follow the local customs. They drink, sm.
