THIRD PERSON SLASHER

IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY YOU'RE SURE OF A BIG SHARP KNIFE! DIRECTOR CHRIS NASH DISCUSSES IN A VIOLENT NATURE

- ROBBIE DUNLOP

THE STARTING POINT WAS ALWAYS a slasher film from the killer’s perspective,” says Chris Nash, whose debut directorial feature In A Violent Nature considers horror from another point of view.

When developing his innovative concept, he took inspiration from arthouse cinema, particularly the work of director Gus Van Sant, whose approach on films such as Gerry, Elephant and Last Days was to “stick to the lead character and let them tell the story at their own pace”.

“I wanted to do it in horror, and slasher just seemed right,” Nash explains. “Slashers walk at their own pace, and they set their own time. Also, it just felt like there hadn’t been anything somewhat outside the box in slasher movies for a while, so it just seemed ready for it.”

Johnny is the relentless serial killer whose head (at least the back of it) and hulking figure we’ll come to know intimately. He and the backwoods setting – complete with lake and cabins – are directly influenced by the slasher flicks Nash watched as a youth, including Friday The 13th, My Bloody Valentine and The Burning. “They all live in your brain,” he says.

In a further nod to the video era, the film’s aspect ratio of 1:37:1 (a little wider than square) was chosen to recreate his experience of watching VHS tapes on ’80s-period televisions. “Happenstantially, it’s also the ratio Van Sant used for his films, so it kinda worked out in parallel,” he notes. “But it was really just how we watched slashers growing up.”

THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK

Within this realm of familiarity, however, Nash has crafted something unique. Third person shooters come to mind when watching elongated sequences of Johnny walking steadfastly and determinedly through tranquil forests. Leaves rustle with his footsteps and the wind blows, while birds chirrup in a deceptively serene nature. It’s hypnotic.