Although In A Violent Nature owes an obvious creative debt to the Friday the 13th franchise, the indie horror movie’s direct connection with the slasher franchise is easy to miss. 2024’s In A Violent Nature is a slasher movie like no other. Filmed in a style reminiscent of Terrence Malick and Gus Van Sant, In A Violent Nature is a meditatively paced horror that takes place from the slasher villain’s point of view. Great swathes of the movie’s relaxed runtime are spent wandering through empty, quiet woods and across idyllic fields, only for every human encounter to end gruesomely.

By In A Violent Nature’s ending, the slasher offered viewers some of the nastiest death scenes of 2024. The plot is mostly a setup for the movie’s kills, but the few glimpses of the storyline viewers are given borrow heavily from the iconic Friday the 13th series. Like that franchise, In A Violent Nature focuses on a masked murderer who died as a child due to irresponsible teens, has superhuman strength, and kills camp counselors violently to avenge his mother. The slasher sees its killer search for a stolen locket, killing everyone in his path.

In A Violent Nature’s Lauren-Marie Taylor Previously Appeared In Friday The 13th Part 2

In A Violent Nature’s Woman Is Played By Friday The 13th Part 2’s Vickie Actor

While even the most casual horror fan could pick up on the elements In A Violent Nature borrows from Friday the 13th, it is a little harder to spot the indie movie’s direct connection to the franchise. In A Violent Nature’s ending sees the final girl, Andrea Pavlovic’s Kris, escape Johnny’s wrath by reaching a road near the deep, dark woods. A pᴀssing motorist stops to help Kris and tries to reᴀssure her with a story of a bear attack that happened years earlier. In A Violent Nature, the unnamed woman is played by Lauren-Marie Taylor from Friday the 13th Part 2.

​​​​​

Taylor played Vickie in Friday the 13th Part 2 who, notably, was not that sequel’s final girl. Jason Voorhees stabbed Vickie in a death that, while violent, was nowhere near as bad as In A Violent Nature’s brutal kills. Taylor went on to appear in 1982’s slasher movie Girls Night Out and in two documentaries about the Friday the 13th franchise: 2009’s His Name Was Jason and 2013’s Crystal Lake Memories. In A Violent Nature’s cameo marks Taylor’s first movie role in twenty years, and it is a fitting tribute to her earlier work.

How In A Violent Nature Heavily Compares To The Friday The 13th Franchise

In A Violent Nature Riffs On The Famous Friday The 13th Formula

In A Violent Nature plays with Friday the 13th’s famous formula by re-imagining the abandoned summer camp slasher from the perspective of the killer. The Friday the 13th movies rarely focus on Jason Voorhees for long and, since their inception, earned criticism for spending too much screen time fleshing out characters who were doomed to inevitably die. In A Violent Nature subverts slasher audience expectations by foregrounding the killer’s point-of-view and proving that, for the most part, his existence is pretty tranquil. This peace only makes In A Violent Nature’s bloody Friday the 13th-inspired kills more discordantly shocking and nasty.

This Connection Could Help In A Violent Nature Become A Slasher Franchise

A In A Violent Nature Sequel Is In Development

In a Violent Nature was always going to be a long sH๏τ at becoming a slasher franchise. It is different from other slasher movies thanks to its slower, more meditative pace and its perspective from the killer’s point of view, which can be challenging to watch. However, it is also important to note that the first movie does not dictate what future films will look like, and things could change if the studio wants to make more films based in this world, but in a more commercial manner.

Despite its low box office totals, grossing $4.6 million, it was still a success thanks to its ultra-low budget. Despite that, the studio would need more money to make a franchise viable, and connecting it to classic films like Friday the 13th could be a perfect way to ensure bigger success. IFC is making a sequel to the film, with the original filmmaker, Chris Nash, serving as the screenwriter (via IndieWire). It appears that this will be an IFC and Shudder partnership, which could mean the film will go directly to streaming.

“We knew immediately that this distinctive take on the slasher would enthrall fans and are glad to see the community embrace a new slasher icon in Johnny,” said Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks’ film group. “With the sequel, we aim to prove that Johnny can be bigger, meaner, and his kills can only get more impressive.” This makes the plans for In a Violent Nature sound a lot like Friday the 13th, which also changed in its second movie. Connecting the films could be perfect for the franchise’s future success.