In a Violent Nature is an anti-story film about a rather unique anti-hero...meet Johnny. He is sort of like Jason Vorhees. If you take his mother's necklace that guards his grave, he rises from the dead and goes on a rampage like s Friday the 13th movie.
80% of this movie is just Johnny stomping through the woods, spying on kids, getting his weapons and mask. Which, although it gets boring, is kind of effective and actually pretty thought-provoking.
The other 20% of the film we see the teenagers (one of them stole his mother's necklace) and the police captain who stopped his rampage ten years ago. These characters are seen from Johnny's POV as they go through the 'tropes' of a slasher film...such as underage sex while camping by a lake, or being the strange old guy who warns the kids of the danger, etc.
About 5% of this film are the kills, which are pretty good and link back to the story so it's not just gratuitous. It's important to note that in the average Jason movie, the main character would often find half the dead bodies as she ran from the villain near the end, and in this one (because we see the film from Johnny's POV) we see all the kills and it's kind of unsettling and effective.
The big problem with this film is that because this is an anti-story film about an anti-hero, it has an anti-story ending where we don't have the normal climax of a slasher film. This film desperately needed the final showdown between our hero and the main teenage girl...and we never get it. Instead, there is more of a thoughtful lesson about how the stories of what goes on in the violent woods don't always match up with reality, and while we, the audience, maybe left to ponder...and even have some sympathy for Johnny...we certainly aren't entertained or moved or having any kind of cathartic reaction to this information.
Overall, this is a decent arthouse film with a good idea that - at times - is effectively executed...but the lack of a real ending leaves the film kind of meaningless. You have to deliver on the promise of the premise, and you can't just skip the final act of a horror film and replace it with an ambiguous lesson on truth v fiction and morality.
I can't recommend the film, but it was interesting and had some good ideas.
80% of this movie is just Johnny stomping through the woods, spying on kids, getting his weapons and mask. Which, although it gets boring, is kind of effective and actually pretty thought-provoking.
The other 20% of the film we see the teenagers (one of them stole his mother's necklace) and the police captain who stopped his rampage ten years ago. These characters are seen from Johnny's POV as they go through the 'tropes' of a slasher film...such as underage sex while camping by a lake, or being the strange old guy who warns the kids of the danger, etc.
About 5% of this film are the kills, which are pretty good and link back to the story so it's not just gratuitous. It's important to note that in the average Jason movie, the main character would often find half the dead bodies as she ran from the villain near the end, and in this one (because we see the film from Johnny's POV) we see all the kills and it's kind of unsettling and effective.
The big problem with this film is that because this is an anti-story film about an anti-hero, it has an anti-story ending where we don't have the normal climax of a slasher film. This film desperately needed the final showdown between our hero and the main teenage girl...and we never get it. Instead, there is more of a thoughtful lesson about how the stories of what goes on in the violent woods don't always match up with reality, and while we, the audience, maybe left to ponder...and even have some sympathy for Johnny...we certainly aren't entertained or moved or having any kind of cathartic reaction to this information.
Overall, this is a decent arthouse film with a good idea that - at times - is effectively executed...but the lack of a real ending leaves the film kind of meaningless. You have to deliver on the promise of the premise, and you can't just skip the final act of a horror film and replace it with an ambiguous lesson on truth v fiction and morality.
I can't recommend the film, but it was interesting and had some good ideas.
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