PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Whenever I hear phrases like, “Be sure to bring a puke bag!” or “the grossest!” used to describe a horror film, I’m instantly intrigued. I have to see this, I think to myself. But I’m also apprehensive because usually, I don’t find anything within that film to warrant people walking out. It’s sometimes hard for me to admit that not every horror fan likes all of the same disgusting stuff that I do. All of this is true about Chris Nash’s newest flick, In a Violent Nature, a film touted as being “different” because it’s told from the perspective of the killer. And everything that’s being said about this film is true. It is very different, and I can absolutely see why even the most seasoned horror fan could find it uncomfortable. One of the best things about In a Violent Nature is the phenomenal practical effects, thanks to special effects coordinator Michael W. Hamilton (Psycho Goreman; V/H/S 94). It’s the quintessential slasher film and deserves all of the hype surrounding it.
When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year-old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it.
To celebrate the film’s release, I chatted with stars Ry Barrett and Andrea Pavlovic about what’s being said about the film, what intrigued them about the script, their favorite scene to shoot, and more!
PopHorror: I loved In a Violent Nature. It was brutal and that was right up my alley. All of my favorite things so I’m super excited to talk to you today. My first question is for both of you. There’s lots of buzz surrounding this film. Tales of people puking, walking out, saying “bring your puke bag!” How does that make you feel?
Ry Barrett: So proud!
Andrea Pavlovic: Yeah! I love it so much.
Ry Barrett: It’s a badge of honor, honestly. We made a film that’s going to shock people and if it’s going to get headlines with stuff like that, then great!
Andrea Pavlovic: I know. Is it really bad that I want to see more headlines of people puking? Is that a bad thing?
PopHorror: No! I shared a poster online when I was watching this saying I was watching it, and it had a quote about how gross it was, and someone commented that they’re really riding that marketing. I was like, if it was my film, I would too! I would be sharing this everywhere. You’re right, it is a badge of honor. What intrigued you about the script and made you want to be a part of the project?
Andrea Pavlovic: I think it’s just so different to anything in the genre. It’s from the perspective of the monster, first off, so it just has a very different feel to it. It’s a very different type of slasher and I think either people are really going to love it or they’re going to feel weird about it, but I think, as Ry said, are badges of honor. I think it’s really cool to subvert expectations in film in general and I think we need to do more of that, so I was really excited for this project for that reason. Doing something different and new and exciting.
Ry Barrett: Yeah, I agree. It’s a divisive film. It’s going to split some audiences I think but we’re all ready for it and I think that anything that tries to do something new isn’t going to have that. I also feel that a lot of people that might not click with the first time around might come back to it and be like, “Oh, you know what? It wasn’t what maybe I was expecting,” and then give it a whole other look and another perspective. But I feel like the people who are going to like it are going to love it because it is, for me being a big horror fan too and being a fan of specifically 80s horror and all the slashers that came out during that era, it’s just a hug to all of those films. It’s like, this is something different that you haven’t seen that involves all of that same stuff but I’m giving you a new angle on all of it, which I think is a gift because a lot of times you get the same thing over and over again. You know what’s going to happen. Like if there’s not a big twist or something thrown in there, but a lot of the time that’s kind of shoehorned in anyways. It’s just great to be a part of something like that.
PopHorror: Speaking of 80s slashers, this had really big Friday the 13th vibes.
Ry Barrett: Chris (Director Nash) wanted to take elements from a whole bunch of different things, like we talked about that but didn’t want to specifically riff on one character or one specific film or anything, but he also knew that Friday the 13 is probably the widest, easiest attachment to an audience so you can jump right into this kind of a film so they know exactly where they are right at the beginning and not have to explain anything really. You kind of have an attachment to that sort of character. You don’t have to waste time. Like Andrea was saying earlier, the audience knows what they’re getting into, what kind of film that is, so once you’re there you can just get into everything.
Andrea Pavlovic: And we literally had Lauren-Marie Taylor in it, who is in Friday the 13th part 2.
PopHorror: This question is for you, Ry. You play Johnny, the mute but sadistic killer. How do you tackle a role as dark and violent as Johnny?
Ry Barrett: I try to go about figuring out a character differently for everything. A lot of that involves talking to the director and seeing what exactly they’re going for and what tone and atmosphere. Once I got a chance to sit down with Chris Nash, our writer/director, and Peter Kuplowsky (producer), we actually sat down and watched a few films to kind of just give me all of that, kind of ideas as to what exactly was going to be. One of the films was Angst, a German film that follows a serial killer.
PopHorror: I love Angst!
Ry Barrett That, and there’s another British film called Elephant. It’s just following people committing crimes. It’s based on true stories but it kind of gave me this direction to go, on top of doing all the research and going back and revisiting every slasher movie I could get my hands on, and watching any new ones I came across too, and then just trying to create a different… Something that is in line with that that’s not going to take away from anything or step outside of the puzzle that this film is, but to have something that feels comfortable and normal. Not normal but that fits in that world but is slightly its own thing.
PopHorror: I know that we’re supposed to be scared of the killer. He was pretty terrifying. But I have to say that it tugged at my heartstrings when he was sitting in the forest playing with the car. It made me feel really sad for him and I was thinking, is this wrong? There was something just so heartfelt and sad seeing him play with that car.
Ry Barrett: I agree, honestly. That was the one scene, and a bit of a spoiler, but you get to kind of see Johnny there, and that’s the only scene where I can actually do any kind of expressions with the face even though it’s under latex and makeup, and fantastic makeup. It’s great. I’m glad because I’ve heard that from a few people and I’m very happy that you do have that moment of empathy with him before he starts ripping people apart again, because you’ve seen what he’s already done, and then you have that moment to kind of give that little bit of humanity to Johnny. And then he just rips it right back so… It’s fun playing with the audience with that.
PopHorror: Yeah, I loved that. Andrea, was there anything that you adamant about bringing to your character?
Andrea Pavlovic: Yeah, there’s such tropes, right? Any horror has its specific tropes, and I think it was really important to make sure that yes, we still know what those tropes are going into this film but to make sure these people were human, that they were fully rounded. I specifically wanted Kris to feel powerful and strong and she just held her own and wasn’t this damsel in distress kind of energy. It was really important to me to just bring as much of myself to it as well, which Chris Nash, our director, was really receptive to.
PopHorror: There are lots of gnarly kill scenes and phenomenal practical effects in this film. What was your favorite scene to shoot?
Andrea Pavlovic: Oh, that is such a good question. Honestly, there was this one montage that I did in the forest at night, where I’m just kind of like screwing my face off and that was so much fun to do. Also kind of funny doing it because I was like, I really hope people know that we’re filming a horror movie in these woods right now and they don’t think someone is actually getting brutally murdered right now. Not that that’s what was happening but…
Ry Barrett: There’s a handful of moments. I have some great memories. There’s some stuff we went and shot and literally walked hours back into the woods to shoot at these beautiful waterfalls and it’s not even in the movie. So there’s like all these great moments. It just didn’t fit. You can’t force something if it doesn’t fit in the timeline or look right, but there’s all these great moments and that’s one of them. Shooting specific kill scenes and watching how they pulled it off and the special effects involved. And then shooting with all of the cast, too. There’re all these specific moments but the one that sticks out for me is the same one that when I read the script was in my head. It’s the same one that everyone’s talking about that is on a cliff involving some yoga and I don’t want to give out any spoilers other than that. But that was my favorite one to shoot. There’s a specific moment in that scene actually, at the very end of it after Johnny has done these horrific things and he’s just standing there looking out over the cliff, and he does this little step. I don’t even remember doing it. Might of just been like, well the camera’s still rolling and he just kind of steps and is just standing looking off into the distance as if he’s taking pride in this moment. I just find that it makes it even creepier.
PopHorror: He should take pride in that! It was pretty artistic. Just one last question for both of you. What is your favorite scary movie?
Ry Barrett: I’ve gotta go with my go-to because it’s one of my favorite genre films of all time – John Carpenter’s The Thing. I’ve watched it a million times. I watch it at least once a year. I’m just a super geek with that so I’ll go with that, even though there’s so many.
Andrea Pavlovic: Ah, it’s so good. The only one – this is so lame – but I remember watching this when I was far too young because I have an older brother, he’s seven years older than I am. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre I just have such a vivid memory of watching when I was way too young. It’s so cool.
Thank you so much to Ry and Andrea for taking the time to speak with us. In a Violent Nature slashes its way into theaters Friday, May 31, 2024.
