This is a movie that the first time I watched it I had a little buyers remorse. However, on a second watch and then third etc, I started to really like it and this became one of my favorite slashers. Yes it’s almost 2 years old now and I’m just doing a review, but there is a good reason.
I was given the privilege to guest on my friend, Sarah’s podcast for a deeper dive into the psychological side of horror. Sarah posted the episode back on June 14th but I have been crazy busy so I’m a bit behind. Check out the episode here:
Now before I try to keep my review minimal, check out the trailer:
This movie is from the point in view of the slasher. Not like Halloween where we see through Michael’s eyes, but this movie follows behind Johnny. Johnny is a simple man who lost his mother and his father was over charging the loggers for supplies which made the loggers angry. To get back at Johnny’s dad they tricked Johnny into climbing up an old fire watch tower. Once Johnny was up there, on of the loggers put on an old Fire mask and scared Johnny causing him to fall out of the tower to his death.
The movie starts as most slashers do with some dumb teenagers (maybe) in the woods. One of them disturb johnny’s resting spot by taking a locket hanging on a tree with a picture of Johnny’s mother in it. The loss of the locket wakes him and he is on the hunt to get it back and killing anyone who gets in his path.
There are many interesting things about how this movie is made. In a lot of the slasher movies we have a central character like a Final Girl that we follow and we see our killer spring out of nowhere. In A Violent Nature is mostly a quiet movie and we get the story/backstory from overhearing conversations that Johnny hears. He is completely driven by sound. When he hears people talking he changes course to see if they are the ones who have his locket. This movie also uses a combination of both off screen kills and some of the most graphically detailed kills i have seen. What has been hacked “The Yoga” scene was so creative that it won the 2024 Fangoria Chainsaw award for Best Kill.
There is a lot of walking in the movie and you kind of have to sit back and enjoy the cinematography. The scenery is beautiful and the peacefulness of the forest and at times eerie quiet of the road can be characters all it’s own. the ending itself can be a whole conversation on it’s own and Sarah and I dive into it on her show. I try to keep spoilers out of my reviews so if you are curious, go check out the podcast.
As to not give away all the things Sarah and I talked about I end this here. This may have started at a lower rating initially, but now i give this a solid 🥃🥃🥃🥃. If you have the patience, and love the slasher genre then I would highly recommend this movie.
Brunner's Bar 
Leave a comment