Art House Friday the 13th probably deserves extra credit just for the vision and audacity. And here I am having just rewatched all the Friday the 13ths without realizing how much it would speak to this Jason-like slasher’s murder spree.
In a Violent Nature isn’t about Jason but might as well be. We largely watch from a camera behind this slasher’s very wide shoulders as he clomps through the forest, finding annoying teens to kill. We rarely spend any time with the victims… and when we do, they are often out of focus or their heads are off-screen.
This film took some time to get me on its wavelength. I instantly understood its angle, where it was coming from, but it took me awhile to get into it. To become involved. I mean, one of my biggest problems with slasher films are the slim characterizations… now remove that even further by just following a slasher who isn’t exactly the font of all personality.
Plus some gnarly kills and buckets of gore. My favorite bit of commentary and slaughter was one kill that was too elaborate and time-consuming… so elaborate and time consuming that it makes no practical sense… but sometimes slashers do be like that. Would be easier to just slit a throat but, no, how about this whole set of actions to get a particularly big ick?
And that’s kind of what’s neat about the film. Yes, the slasher trudges endlessly through the woods to the point of distraction. Is this even fun? But the movie is putting you logically into what it would be like to be one of these slashers. We know they move slow, we know they always catch up… so what would that be like? Maybe that’s not a question you ever asked and maybe it’s not something you even care about, but it is an interesting and different angle on a slasher film.
The final act is going to be divisive… it feels like an anti-climax but I think the film is doing exactly what it did with the slasher but transferred to The Final Girl. If it’s good to walk a literal mile in his shoes, it should be good to walk a literal mile in hers.
The slasher himself isn’t particularly unique but that’s the whole point. He’s mainly just shoulders, back, and footsteps… though eventually he gets a particularly dumb looking mask (which was maybe intentional?). I’d look forward to a sequel with him… but I’d rather a sequel that does the same thing but with another slasher franchise instead.
Overall, I’m mixed to positive on the film and I’m giving it extra credit for just daring to be something that’s gonna piss off non-film-fan slasher fans (If you know what I mean). Some people will find it unwatchable, tiresome, and tedious… they won’t appreciate the unique angle. Others will dig it whole. I dug it… though it took me some time to get into it.
Score: 82