Sundance Movie Review: 'In A Violent Nature' A Fun Twist On Slasher Movies
Park City, Utah, January. (UPI) -- Slasher films are a historical tradition in horror cinema. "Into the Wild," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Wednesday, is a somewhat revolutionary take on the genre decades later.
In general, a slasher is a secretive creature that surprises and kills its prey. Much of the film's violent nature is presented from the killer's point of view.
Johnny (Ray Barrett) wakes up from an unknown grave in the woods and begins to walk through the woods. The camera follows him as he walks.
A group of tourists (Andrea Pavlovich, Cameron Love, Charlotte Kerrigan, Leah Rose Sebastianis, Alexander Oliver, Liam Lyon, Sam Rolston) lived in a cabin in the forest. Horror films usually spend most of their time identifying these victims.
In "Into the Wild ", the campers only appear on screen when Johnny is watching them. He sees them long enough to establish basic personalities and relationships, but they are food for Johnny.
In fact, one such scene allows Irene (Rolston) to tell the legend of Johnny, explaining how he died the first time. Local gamekeeper Reece Presley finds out more about this legend and explains it further.
The backstory is unique enough to set Johnny apart from other horror films, but mysterious enough to not get bogged down in mythology.
Johnny kills the camp members one by one, like in the movie "Friday the 13th", but without the MPA sensor to limit the bleeding. Not many more murders than Jason did.
Many of the deaths that occur during continuous gunfire must be computer generated. Others may be a combination of makeup effects and computer enhancements, but either way they leave a good impression.
Perspective is not just a fundamental paradigm shift. Writer/director Chris Nash also uses it to make compelling changes.
Nash juxtaposes shots of Johnny walking through different parts of the forest to ensure smooth transitions. A bullet from Johnny's arm tore off his arm, which was bloodied after the murder, and its full extent was later revealed.
This vision is not just for Johnny. The ambitious sequence features an aerial view of Johnny and his victims.
Ultimately, the film switches perspectives but moves to a different point of view steeped in horror film conventions. The ending is a bit of a surprise, but if it follows in the tradition of other horror films, there may be some other violence to follow.
The appeal of horror films is the creativity of death and the appeal of killers. Fierce Nature can do both, and it has a new trick that will make the game even more fun.
IFC Films and Shadow Into the Wild will be released.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, a member of the Television Critics Society since 2012, and a Critics' Choice Society member since 2023. Read more about his work in the “Entertainment” section.
