In a Violent Nature’s Chris Nash on creating essentially the most disturbing horror film ever made
Horror motion pictures have been on a roll lately, with final 12 months’s M3GAN and Insidious: The Red Door incomes large quantities of money on the field workplace. They’ve been vital darlings too, with Skinamarink and 2024’s The First Omen getting reward for his or her elegantly crafted scares. But what number of of those horror motion pictures have been actually disturbing by shelling out a number of the most graphic deaths ever?
In A Violent Nature is that horror film. Ever since its premiere on the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, the film has been building hype for its outrageous and gory deaths, in addition to its distinctive method to the slasher subgenre. Digital Trends lately talked to the film’s director, Chris Nash, about why he opted to heart his narrative across the killer somewhat than his victims, why there are two totally different variations of the film, and potential sequels plans for the sure-to-be breakout horror hit of the season.
Editor’s be aware: This interview has been edited for size and readability.
Digital Trends: The movie is usually in comparison with Friday the thirteenth and its many sequels, which is correct, but additionally doesn’t absolutely convey what this film actually is. You’ve embraced these comparisons in different interviews. How influential had been these motion pictures once you began to consider In a Violent Nature? And in what methods does the film differ from these slashers?
Chris Nash, director of In A Violent Nature: Well, I believe the important thing distinction is aesthetics. Other than that, I don’t assume it differs that a lot from Friday the thirteenth. I believe the entire angle going into it was as an alternative of specializing in the campers, which the Jason motion pictures normally heart their narratives round, what if we targeted on the killer as an alternative? Our foremost objective, and the primary problem of taking pictures it, was sticking with our thesis assertion of following our slasher Johnny for so long as we are able to.
There’s an inherent dichotomy that arises from subverting that slasher horror trope. With In a Violent Nature, you’re actually watching two movies on the identical time: the one that’s in entrance of you that follows the killer, and the one which we’re used to seeing within the Friday the thirteenth slashers, which is going on on the margins. The campers are there, they usually all have their tales, however we solely hear snippets of it, as a result of we’re with the killer observing them from a distance. Did you consider the dangers in doubtlessly alienating the viewers as a result of they don’t have like a relatable character to latch on to, or any type of clear narrative for them to observe?
It was undoubtedly a priority, however we’ve actually tried our hardest to not let that enter into our heads. We set these guidelines up for ourselves and dedicated to them: observe the killer, haven’t any narration, and haven’t any rating, which is one other deviation from a typical slasher movie. There had been occasions after we doubted ourselves, certain. Is this an excessive amount of? Are we creating one thing that’s means too antagonistic for an viewers to get pleasure from? Whenever we felt that type of hesitation, although, we at all times needed to dial again to the foundations that we had set within the first place.
When we had been taking pictures within the woods, with all that stunning surroundings, it made me query a bit about how we had been taking pictures the film. Should we swap from a side ratio to widescreen to seize all that stunning imagery? And we determined no, we are able to’t try this. We have to stay with what we had laid out for ourselves. We simply needed to silence these uncertain voices as a lot as we might.
I learn an interview your [director of phtography], Pierce Derkes, gave in Filmmaker Magazine the place he talked about that the film began out as one thing utterly totally different from what it lastly ended up being. Did it begin as a simple slasher film? And if that’s the case, why did you go in a unique course?
Well, it was at all times going to be a horror film instructed from the killer’s viewpoint. We had a whole lot of bother making the movie. In truth, what you see on the display is our second try at making In a Violent Nature. We spent 4 weeks attempting to shoot the movie with a largely totally different crew, however a lot of the identical solid. And throughout that block of taking pictures, I might say we shot 75% to 80% of the movie.
That’s most likely what Pierce was referring to as a result of it was like we shot a very totally different movie. The aesthetics had been a bit totally different. There had been selections we made that we realized, “oh, this is kind of it’s not conveying the same tone and mood that we want.” For instance, the digital camera was following too shut behind Johnny, our slasher, and in consequence, he was taking on an excessive amount of house within the body. And consequently, that wasn’t letting the atmosphere breathe within the picture, if that is sensible.
So after we made the choice to reshoot the movie, our authentic director of pictures couldn’t return. He had one other job lined up, so Pierce, who on the time was our behind-the-scenes and second-unit director of pictures, stepped up and shot the remainder of it. When we examined the footage from the primary time we shot it, it gave us a way more targeted place to begin so far as what we needed to do to nail the tone that we initially needed to create.
It’s actually bizarre wanting on the meeting edit of the primary time we tried taking pictures it versus what we ended up with. Because they really feel like two utterly totally different motion pictures.
Does that footage nonetheless exist? Maybe it might be included as an additional on the Criterion Blu-ray down the street.
Yeah, when Criterion lastly will get off their asses and releases this film. [laughs] It exists within the behind-the-scenes footage Pierce captured whereas we made it. I do know he’s bought all of the footage. He’s been working his means by means of it each time he has the time. I imagine the concept is to chop within the authentic block of taking pictures inside the doc and to have it stay there.
In a Violent Nature options a number of the most graphic deaths I’ve ever seen. I’ve to borrow a query my mom requested me about my horror-watching habits: What type of sick thoughts comes up with one thing like that?
When I’m writing the kills, I’m attempting to attempt to make one thing as distinctive as potential. I didn’t need to have a film that was only a bunch of throats getting slashed. I’ve a historical past as a prosthetics artist as nicely. The prosthetics lead we had on this movie, Steve Costanza, can be a director with fairly a number of movies beneath his belt. So we each understood the technical points of taking pictures results and constructing them out. And additionally, we each get very, very tired of unoriginal horror film deaths. OK, this particular person is gonna get stabbed, this particular person’s gonna get their throat slit, and so on.
We challenged ourselves by asking: What have we not seen earlier than? What can be harder than you assume to tug off on a technical degree when it comes to creating practical prosthetics and filming them? I’m much less impressed by nightmares than I’m by the problem of displaying one thing that’s by no means been seen earlier than. There are so many horror movies now, and to face out, you need to have some nice deaths. At the very least, we have to have kills that folks shall be speaking about.
Well, mission achieved on that entrance. You can’t simply make a profitable horror film these days with out there being the inevitable sequel. If this film is a hit, which I’m certain it is going to be, what would you prefer to see in In a Violent Nature 2 or 3? Are we going to see Johnny Takes Manhattan?
If there’s a sequel, I hope that it’ll proceed experimenting with formal points of the style in the identical means that I really feel In a Violent Nature was a proper experiment in slasher movies. Insofar as like what’s going to occur within the story or who will seem? I don’t actually know. But I do know it’s going to be one other type of mash-up of aesthetics, one thing that’s aesthetically totally different from the remaining, if it ever occurs.
In a Violent Nature is at the moment taking part in in film theaters.
