Summary
-
In a Violent Nature
raked in $2.1M during its debut, with its creators teasing a possible sequel featuring killer Johnny in a new urban setting. - The movie has mixed reviews, dividing fans between creative kills and lack of suspense, with director Chris Nash clarifying it doesn’t aim to redefine the slasher genre.
- Despite initial hype and a 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating dropping to 87%,
In a Violent Nature
sticks to well-known slasher genre tropes intentionally.
In a Violent Nature managed to scare up an impressive $2.1 million dollars during its debut weekend, and special effects lead Steven Kostanski is already teasing plans for a sequel. The experimental slasher movie directed by Chris Nash earned IFC Films its second-highest grossing theatrical debut of all-time, behind 2024’s Late Night with the Devil. Described by some as part slasher film and part nature documentary, the unique horror movie mostly takes place from the point of view of the killer, Johnny, as he systematically hacks his way through a group of unsuspecting friends one-by-one.
Though a sequel to In a Violent Nature has yet to be announced, Kostanski and Nash spoke with Variety last week and revealed that they already have plans for how Johnny could continue his rampage in a different setting. While In a Violent Nature takes place in the Canadian wilderness, Kostanski says he wouldn’t mind seeing their resurrected monster get creative in a more urban setting. Check out his comments below.
“I feel like there’s definitely room for more Johnny adventures. I wouldn’t mind
seeing him end up in suburbia at some point
. Just the feeling of walking around with this character in a back alley — somewhere while people are just living their lives — is pretty spooky. I would entertain that.”
In a Violent Nature
4/5
In a Violent Nature is a 2024 horror-slasher film written and directed by Chris Nash that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024. A group of campers in the middle of the wilderness stumble across a fire watchtower and discover a locket buried beneath its charred ruins. However, by unearthing the locket, they’ve invited the wrath of its prior owner and now must survive the rampage of a supernatural killer looking to retrieve his possession.
- Release Date
- May 31, 2024
- Director
- Chris Nash
- Cast
- Lauren-Marie Taylor , Andrea Pavlovic , Ry Barrett , Reece Presley
Poking fun at how some slasher films tend to jump the shark after a number of entries, à la 2001’s Jason X which saw the iconic Jason Voorhees end up in outer space, Kostanski jokingly added how In a Violent Nature’s killer could suffer the same fate:
“And then by part four, maybe he [Johnny] goes to space. We’ll see.”
In a Violent Nature Didn’t Set Out to Redefine the Slasher Genre
In a Violent Nature debuted with an impressive 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes when its first reviews started pouring in, but that rating has since dropped to 87%, with just a 45% audience score following its opening weekend. As one of the most anticipated horror movies in recent memory, the film has seemingly divided those on social media, with some praising its more creative kills, and others saying it lacks suspense.
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Perhaps expectations were too high going into the movie based on those early positive reviews that hyped up In a Violent Nature to be something it wasn’t. Director Chris Nash says it was never his intent to redefine the slasher genre, and that he leaned into those familiar genre tropes on purpose. Speaking to MovieWeb recently, Nash said that “95% of this film is doing absolutely nothing new.”
“I think that it’s basically reciting a definition of what a slasher is. Like,
95% of this film is doing absolutely nothing new
. And it’s just that 5% that makes it different. But
I don’t think it redefines anything
. And I think that we rely on so many tropes that are established, and we lean into them so hard, just to lift ourselves up to be where we want to be to make the film. So yeah, I don’t think that it does redefine anything.
And that was never the intent
. And I’m not just saying that to avoid any fanboy ire.”
In a Violent Nature
is now playing in theaters, and will be available to stream on Shudder later this year. Check out the trailer below.
