A group of teens holidaying in the woods take a locket from a collapsed fire tower that entombs the rotting corpse of a vengeful spirit called Johnny. The theft causing him to be resurrected and he starts to kill the kids.
No one could claim that In a Violent Nature, written and directed by Chris Nash, is overburdened with plot. One of the ‘teens’ – that is how they are billed but they look a decade older – tells the scary story of Johnny round the camp fire, in the traditional way, and then he starts killing.
If you are really keen on blood and gore, this film certainly delivers. All of the kills are different and extremely bloody. There was one inventive one where a girl gets tied into a knot but otherwise I found it almost entirely lacking in scares. There was not any time that Johnny seemed to be under threat as he methodically dismembers his victims. It also does not help that his victims are all bland and sometimes indistinguishable from each other.
The very best scene is right towards the end when the lone survivor is picked up in a truck. As the driver gives a long monologue there is uncertainty over what will happen, a real feeling of suspense for the first time. At the end of it there is a perfectly ambiguous ending but that is distilled by a pointless follow up scene.
Nash shows glimpses of talent here, but on the whole, this movie feels curiously lifeless.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10