‘In a Violent Nature’ Trailer

May 10, 2024

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The Big Picture

In a Violent Nature
flips slasher genre by portraying events through the killer’s eyes.
Featuring gruesome kills, the horror film spotlights a supernatural killer seeking revenge.
The movie’s release on May 31 promises a return to gory horror in theaters and later on Shudder.

Evil will soon rise from the woods later this month with the debut of In a Violent Nature in theaters. Released at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews and a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score, the film from first-time feature writer-director Chris Nash has been hailed for flipping the slasher formula on its head, exploring the tropes and tone of the genre through the eyes of its killer rather than the victims. The high praise has made it one of the most anticipated horror features of the year for general audiences with all the hallmarks of a genre classic. Ahead of its arrival, a new trailer shares more of the villain’s perspective and shines a light on the local legend surrounding him.

In a Violent Nature follows Johnny, a malevolent Jason Voorhees-like behemoth stirred from his eternal rest after a locket is snatched from the ruins of the fire tower where he died. He possesses an animalistic urge to kill and is spurred on by a 60-year-old crime which the trailer reflects on. As Johnny trudges through the trees and finds an assortment of snares and sharp weapons for the taking in the footage, a voice off-screen sternly warns someone to stay out of the woods out of fear of an “animal” that could come tearing through their traps without a care. Another voice immediately begins asking their friends if they’ve heard about the White Pine Slaughter, likely the incident that made Johnny the restless and violent spirit that he is. The teenagers who didn’t take the warning seriously soon become his latest targets as he tries to retrieve what they stole.

Opposite Johnny, his victims appear like typical slasher teenagers enjoying a good time out in the woods until supernatural terror arrives to end the fun. The focus on the killer means the film can show the reverse of unsettling horror scenes, turning moments of the killer hiding just off-screen into creepy voyeuristic shots of the friends in the distance while Johnny dips into a lake and waits for the time to strike. Through his eyes, the trailer shows the victims scrambling to find a way to stop him, slowly realizing the supernatural rules that govern their stalker and trying to lure him out into the open to take him down. However, their foolish decisions more often than not leave them running scared, or dead in a brutal manner.

‘In a Violent Nature’ Will Bring the Gore Back to Theaters

IFC Films will be giving In a Violent Nature a run on the big screen in its unrated form, following the success of another remarkably gory title in Damien Leone‘s Terrifier 2. Reviews have noted how disturbing Nash’s debut feature can be with its kills, and putting viewers in the eyes of the slasher only looks to amplify the feeling of discomfort. Ry Barrett leads the film as the potential new fan-favorite horror villain Johnny, with Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Sam Roulston, Alexander Oliver, and Lauren Taylor rounding out the cast.

In a Violent Nature reaches theaters on May 31. A release on Shudder is expected to follow soon after. Check out the new trailer above.