Is In a Violent Nature Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot
Yes, 5 out of 10. It follows the killer through the woods at a walking pace, with very few jump scares.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
5 /10
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DREAD LEVEL
Medium
It stays with you for a night, mostly as a feeling about walking in the woods.
DOG
Dog: not fine
not fine, a dead dog is shown at the start.
Ruling: Watch it in daylight if the woods already make you nervous, because the camera follows the killer.
In a Violent Nature runs ninety-four minutes. A group of friends takes a locket from the ruins of a fire tower, and an undead killer climbs out of the ground to get it back, which is a strong reaction to missing jewelry.
The premise, briefly
When a group of friends takes a locket from a collapsed fire tower, the corpse of a killer named Johnny rises and starts walking through the woods to get it back.
How much do you want to know?
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The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Johnny kills everyone but Kris. She hangs the locket on a gas canister at the fire tower and runs, and a stranger picks her up on the road. Johnny never shows up, and the locket is gone from the canister.
The scene you're dreading
The ranger station attack near the end: Johnny uses a gas-powered log splitter on the park ranger while Colt and Kris escape.
The dog
A dog dies in In a Violent Nature: a dead dog is shown at the start of the film.
It is a slow slasher told from the killer's side, with graphic kills spread across the woods, and it gets easier once you know Kris is the one who gets out.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
Troy pockets the locket without asking anyone
Seven friends (Kris, Colt, Troy, Evan, Ehren, Brodie and Aurora) find a locket hanging from the remains of a fire tower, and Troy puts it in his pocket. Within moments the corpse of a serial killer named Johnny pulls itself out of the ground. He is furious, and he wanders the woods looking for the locket. On the way he overhears a hunter arguing with a park ranger and goes into the hunter's house and mistakes a necklace he finds there for his locket. The sight of it sets off a short memory of his father. Then the homeowner comes back, takes one look at Johnny and runs, but Johnny catches him and kills him.
Ehren tells the campfire legend with Johnny listening
The sound of the friends' gunfire draws Johnny to their campfire. While he watches, Ehren tells the local legend. Decades ago, Johnny was the son of a local merchant, and he fell to his death from the fire tower during a prank that went wrong. His father learned the truth despite the cover-up and was killed confronting one of the people involved. The murders that followed were blamed on Johnny's vengeful spirit. Later that night Johnny kills Ehren, then uses Ehren's body to break into the park ranger's office, where he ransacks the place for weapons and finds an antique firefighter mask.
A fight over car keys that nobody wins
The next day Johnny kills Brodie in the lake near the dock and Aurora at an overlook. Meanwhile Troy, Colt, Kris and Evan argue about what happened to their friends, and Troy hurls the car keys into the woods, and Johnny picks them up. Colt goes after the keys and finds Johnny's dropped axe instead, and he brings it back to show the others as the argument keeps going. Johnny overhears Troy insulting Colt's late father and heads for the group just as Colt and Kris drive off toward the range station. He hurts Troy with the axe, and Evan shoots Johnny from the cabin before he can finish the job. Troy and Evan run into the woods, but Johnny wakes up and chases them, and both die.
A log splitter gets a second job
Colt and Kris reach the ranger station, where a park ranger is looking into what happened. He notices the locket around Kris's neck and tells them that it keeps Johnny's soul at rest. At that moment Johnny walks out of the woods and attacks the group. This is the scene people dread most, and it comes near the end of the film. He uses a gas-powered log splitter on the park ranger, and the ranger dies while Colt and Kris get away.
The ending, explained
Colt and Kris go back to the fire tower and work out a plan to trap Johnny, and Colt is killed before it can work. Kris is too shocked to carry out the plan, so she hangs the locket on a gas canister and runs into the woods. She hurts her leg and limps toward a road, and a passing woman gives her a ride. The woman spots the injury and insists on stopping to tie a tourniquet. Kris panics and begs her to keep driving, watching the trees for Johnny, but he never appears. The movie then returns to the canister at the fire tower, and the locket has vanished from it. Of the seven friends, only Kris is left alive.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: not fine, a dead dog is shown at the start.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is In a Violent Nature scary?
Yes, In a Violent Nature is a 5 out of 10. It is a slow slasher that follows the killer through the woods, with very few jump scares, a medium level of dread and graphic kills.
How does In a Violent Nature end?
Johnny kills everyone except Kris. She leaves the locket on a gas canister and escapes in a stranger's car, and Johnny never shows up. The locket is gone when the camera returns to the canister.
Does the dog die in In a Violent Nature?
Yes, a dog dies in In a Violent Nature. A dead dog is shown at the start of the film.
Is there a post-credits scene in In a Violent Nature?
No. In a Violent Nature has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
What is the locket in In a Violent Nature?
It is a locket that keeps Johnny's soul at rest, according to the park ranger. The friends take it from the ruins of a fire tower, and Johnny's corpse rises moments later.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of In a Violent Nature is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't have to follow Johnny through the woods for ninety-four minutes to know how In a Violent Nature ends. Install Scaredy Cat and it will blur the horror before you see it.
