“Remake Friday the 13th as an art film” was clearly the assignment here for a class of Canadian film students. I imagine that In a Violent Nature got an “A,” eh, for most creative use of a logging hook. Oh, I’m sure it played well in class, too, but in the real world, blech. This unpleasant tribute to grisly is both stomach-churningly unique and eye-rollingly derivative at the exact same time. You like Jason? Here’s his Canadian cousin, Johnny.
For 90% of the film, In a Violent Nature takes the perspective of the maniacal homicidal psychopath, Johnny (Ry Barrett). Johnny is large, mute, and bent on killing. The speaking characters in this film are almost always shown in the background; their words and perspective do not matter. The camera likes Johnny. It follows him everywhere.
Johnny is unearthed at the start of the film. He has pretty good eyes and ears for a guy who is clearly dead. Like a doting puppy, the camera follows behind his large frame and misshapen bald head as he trudges all over the woods. You see, there was a locket. It belonged to Johnny’s mother. It needs to be where Johnny is or he’s going scour creation dismembering
people right and left until he gets it back.
Gotta say, I am impressed with this guy’s cardio. I mean maybe he missed a few sessions when he was dead and dormant, but dude really gets his steps in, huh?
So let me give you a taste of what this film had to offer: Early on, Johnny identifies the co-ed group of young adults who stole the locket. Shortly after, he isolates one and separates the victim’s head north of the jaw from the rest of the victim’s body using a handsaw. Perhaps finding the tool inefficient (and needing to take the corpse for a walk?), the undead bruiser drags the body by the new head-hole to the ranger station where Johnny uses the remainder of the skull to break into the facility and steal more old-fashioned type weaponry from museum-like displays.
You know right now if you need to see this film or not, huh?
This isn’t quite torture porn, but it is certainly violence porn. This is a film for people who think Friday the 13th wasn’t showy enough. If you live for the deaths of stupid young people, if you enjoy grisly for the sake of grisly, if you’ve miss Jason when he’s not on your screen, well, gosh, have I got a film for you! For the rest of us, this was a very long unpleasant walk.
There once was a corpse named Johnny
A Canadian woodsman so brawny
He returned to do harm
Cuz those dicks stole mom’s charm
He ain’t stoppin’ til they’re all dead and gone-y
Not Rated [read: R], 94 Minutes
Director: Chris Nash
Writer: Chris Nash
Genre: Violence porn
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Do you enjoy “grisly?”
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Everybody else
