In A Violent Nature 4K Review (IFC Films/Shudder)

In a Violent Nature is a 2024 slasher written and directed by special fx artist Chris Nash (ABCs of Death 2, Liplock, My Main Squeeze, The Birthday Massacre: One, and T Is for Thread). It was produced by Peter Kuplowsky (In a Violent Nature 2, Deathstalker, Psycho Goreman, Frogman, Agnes, The Void, ABCs of Death 2, and Manborg). A different version was filmed originally but they decided to re-do the project and reshoot it. The sequel, In a Violent Nature 2 is currently in development. It grossed $4,560,347 worldwide at the box office. When a old locket is taken from a collapsed fire tower in the woods from a group of friends. It entombs the decayed corpse of Johnny (played by: Ry Barrett from Cult Hero, The Hyperborean, Deadsight, Lifechanger, The Demolisher, Dangerous Rumors, The Hoard, and The Drownsman), an angry spirit still holding on from a gruesome 60-year old crime. That same group of friends which includes Kris (played by: Andrea Pavlovic from Cruel Intentions), Aurora (played by: Charlotte Creaghan from A Secret to Die For), Colt (played by: Cameron Love from Spider-Man: Final Swing), Brodie (played by: Lea Rose Sebastianis from The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man), Troy (played by: Liam Leone from A Ghost ruined my Life), Ehren (played by: Sam Roulston from Mood), and Evan (played by: Alexander Oliver from Cup of Cheer) are enjoying their time together when it’s interrupted. Johnny’s rotten body is resurrected, he becomes obsessed and hellbent on retrieving it at any cost. Will anyone survive this night? or Will it end in a violent nature???? In a Violent Nature has definitely had it’s fair share of mixed reactions so far. I can see why after checking it out for this coverage. I’m always interested in exploring a brand new slasher since it’s one of my favorite sub-genres. In a Violent Nature does test your patience. Nothing except for an off screen kill happens in the first 29 minutes. It takes a first person point of view approach, it’s kinda like a video game because you almost feel like you are the killer. Johnny reminds me of those iconic 80’s slasher villains. He is slower like a Jason Voorhees and clearly he takes his sweet time to track down this group of friends that took his prized locket which caused him be resurrected in the first place. Ry Barrett is no stranger to playing psychopaths or destructive monsters but this is his best role so far doing that. Johnny has an awesome look to his character with the fireman mask and he’s very disturbing to see without it on. I thought it was smart for the group of friends to be unknowns so they all felt more real when they were introduced in this independent production. Charlotte Creaghan, Andrea Pavlovic, and Lea Rose Sebastianis stood out the most from them. In a Violent Nature knew what type of horror movie it was making, it had some nice eye candy with these girls. The rest of the cast includes Cameron Love, Sam Roulston, Alexander Oliver, Liam Leone, Timothy Paul McCarthy (Psycho Goreman), Hailey Imany (What We Do in the Shadows), Reece Presley (Bloodslinger), and Lauren-Marie Taylor (Friday the 13th Part 2). The greatest thing besides the cool villain for In A Violent Nature is the vicious kills and it’s graphic gore. It some of the craziest and most original murders that that I’ve seen in a slasher in a very long time. This shouldn’t be a surprise considering it’s directed by special fx artist Chris Nash (Psycho Goreman, Lifechanger, and Tales from the Void). All of the bloody executions were handled by him plus Steven Kostanski (Leprechaun Returns, IT, Suicide Squad, Crimson Peak, Hannibal, Wrong Turn 4, and Father’s Day), Kyle Glencross (Dawn of the Dead, Saw franchise, Land of the Dead, Jason X, and Bride of Chucky), Patrick Baxter (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Carrie, Evil Dead, Freddy vs. Jason, Mother’s Day, and Wrong Turn), and Mike Hamilton (Frankie Freako, V/H/S94, Firestarter, Rabid, and Curse of Chucky). Johnny doesn’t hold back when comes to hunting down victims. I really wish that the whole feature was like this. In a Violent Nature has some of the most bizarre pacing and editing that I’ve ever seen. Even when Johnny goes on his murderous rampage, there’s some other moments that kinda slow it down a little between the incredible deaths. I’d say about 45 minutes of it is loaded with intense, violent, and nasty scenes that completely make the slow dull stuff worth sitting through. Honestly, if you think about all the wild slashers that were made back in the day, a decent amount had the same issues but probably with a slightly better flow than this. At least, director Chris Nash is consistent when it comes to the flaws in this because the last 10 minutes were pointless and it went nowhere to be honest. It did feature Friday the 13th Part 2 and Girls Nite Out’s own Lauren-Marie Taylor which made it a little better with her presence since she’s a slasher veteran. If you can be patient, I promise you that will be worth your time when it’s all over. In a Violent Nature delivers when it comes blood soaked brutal killings and a possible new horror icon that really stands out. I just hope that they learn from their mistakes here because it had potential to be even better, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation plus all kinds of special features from Shudder, and IFC Films! This 2160p (1.33:1) unrated transfer looks so much better than expected on 4K considering it’s lower budget. It’s old school special fx and it’s beautiful locations really stand out here. I will say that I appreciate it’s unique aspect ratio because it really feels like a 70’s or 80’s drive-in flick. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on the UHD. Like I said above, In a Violent Nature has a really strange flow to it but when all hell breaks loose it really shows up on the audio. All of the dialogue is crisp, the killing is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH and French subtitles. This is 2 disc set home video release and there’s a whole disc here just dedicated to bonus material. It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Chris Nash, actors Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, producers Peter Kuplowsky, and Shannon Hanmer. Director chats about being influenced by Gus Van Zant. They talk about getting the idea for this while making Psycho Goreman. They keep joking about this being a boring film in the slasher genre. They bring up the cast, crew, and characters for this. They provide lots of information and behind the scenes stories about this low budget production. They just have a great time here together and they keep the track always fun with their interactions. It has an additional “Audio Commentary” with Chris Nash, Shannon Hanmer, Pierce Derks, Michelle Hwu, and Tim Atkins. This is the technical track. They chat about the original shoot and re-doing it. This is a fantastic inside look into the independent production. Lots of conversation about sound, music, filming, fx, and everything done in the background for In A Violent Nature. If you are a film maker or a cinema nerd, you will love this one. They break down the process and what it took to make this slasher. Both tracks are completely different so you get a nice variety of you decide to check out both. It has 7 different “Storyboard Kill Galleries” which shows where some of the insane kills originally came from. These are the only extras located on the first disc. The rest of the bonus material is on the other disc that’s purely dedicated to special features. It has the little over 71 minute full length documentary “Dead in the Water: The Attempted Making of The Original IN A VIOLENT NATURE”. This takes you through the production with the first crew trying to put together this small slasher and failing due to so many different issues. From the footage featured in this, it looks like it would have been a completely different movie for this original version. It’s wild that they scrapped all this and basically started over. It has the little over 4 minute “The Yoga Kill: Candid on Set Footage”. It has some really cool behind the scenes and interesting inside look footage into the practical special fx for the death scene. It has the little over 47 minute “Scenes from the first Version of IN A VIOLENT NATURE”. This has various scenes from the first shoot and original version of A Violent Nature. It’s awesome to get to see this alternate reality of this independent horror movie. It has the almost 30 minute “Sundance Video Diary” directed by Alex Jacobs. It shows the cast and crew going to the iconic film festival to promote their horror feature. Lots of different footage of them having a blast and pushing A Violent Nature to the public. It has some clips from their premiere and the interactions with the crowd. There’s an question and answer for the audience after it’s shown for the very first time. It has the little over 13 minute “Behind the Scenes”. This is just all kinds of footage from the set. I love how this crew made sure that they had all this additional material for this. It has some really cool artwork for this exclusive steelbook home video release. This collector’s edition is packed with over 3 hours of special features. This is how a real home video release should be done by everyone, other labels should take notes of this one because it’s beyond loaded. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!