We spoke to the killer himself and the main victim, Ry Barrett and Andrea Pavlovic, about their work in In A Violent Nature, they talk potential sequel, their favorite killing scene and more!
The film follows the unsettled soul of Johnny, a now deranged killer that was put to rest years ago after an accident happened in town. Now, his soul is unsettled and after his grave is tampered with, he is resurrected to wreak carnage upon any and all as he seeks to retrieve his locket that was taken from his grave.
Read and watch the full interview below:
THH: This film has a totally different concept of most slashers out there, is a movie that is mostly told by the perspective of the killer, how was your reaction reading the script for this film and what was the most interesting thing for you in this story.
RY: I just love the perspective of it. Taking a genre like the slasher films, which I love, but I mean, the last kind of ones that have done it. And well, I mean, there’s been a handful that have done something new and, and, uh, you know, brought on some great twists and stuff like that. But I just love the reinvention of this with the way that Chris Nash handled it. And it’s not necessarily first person POV, but it’s like, it’s as if you’re tethered to the killer and you’re going on a day trip with him and you get to see everything that he does from from step one to step yeah that’s a great aspect.
ANDREA: It was so cool reading the script as well because i feel like it just reads so differently because it is tethered to ry’s perspective. And honestly the way that some of the kills were described on the page, I was like, if they pull this off, this is gonna be so cool and so sick and yeah very different and unique. I think that’s what I was so interested in exploring as well there’s so much under the horror umbrella but this one felt very different and I was excited to explore that with, and seeing where that would bring us.
THH: So Ry, you play the serial killer himself, and the thing here is that usually when we’re watching a slasher we never see what the killer is doing or where he’s at, how did you prepare for this role and what were the challenges when playing him. (Did you had any inspirations?)
RY: To prepare was just watching a lot, a lot of old slasher films and um anything specific but we tried to, Chris Nash specifically didn’t want to do any one kind of specific, you know yeah he wanted to give nods to everything. Um, and Friday The 13th is obviously a big one just because it’s an easy jumping in point for the audience. Um, so like, yeah, I tried to take inspiration from all the the greats who did that. Like, Hayne Hodder and Nick Castle as the shape and like all, just all of those, those classics that kind of have little elements you can kind of sprinkle into it. And it was just a matter of finding the physicality and giving myself some rules to stay consistent and to stick with. And then it was a kind of a scene per scene thing just to see how, what speed Johnny would move at or what his motivations were to kind of like fuel either going into kind of killer Johnny mode or to be walking peacefully through the woods.
THH: Your character in ‘In a Violent Nature’ seems to have a complex narrative arc. How did you approach building this character, and what aspects of her story resonated with you the most?
ANDREA: So, Chris Nash, our director, was very open to collaboration and when talking to him about the script, he was like, honestly, I don’t even care that much about what’s on the page. Like, just bring yourself to it. Let’s just go in and do it and see what happens. And I was like, amazing. Like, that’s just music to your ears as an actor, as a creator right? I was so excited to bring more to her because you don’t really get to see her up close. It’s very different with the way that we played with the camera in this film. So, you know, how do you still make an audience care about this character that you really haven’t seen that much of? How do you still, you know, get them to empathize with her and what she’s going through and the terror of everything that’s happening? And I think that’s like, I was really excited for that challenge.
THH: What was the hardest scene scene to film for you guys and what was your favorite kill?
RY: I think probably the hardest scene probably would have been… I actually injured myself in the middle of, in between shooting blocks for the film. And we had to go back and pick up certain scenes in different locations and then come back. And we actually, some scenes like there’s big gaps in between in time. But I injured myself when I came back. I dislocated my knee the week before and we were shooting the lake scene where Johnny walks down into the water and disappears under the water and comes up on the other side. So I was actually on crutches at that time, but I had knee braces. I had my braces on and then I had to wear a diving belt to help me sink. And then also I had to like, we had to pin the mask down so it wouldn’t float the second Johnny walks into the water. And then I had to like reach up and grab it to hold on. It was just all of these little things that kind of, it was really hot. It was probably one of the hottest days that we shot. So the water part was nice. But then everything else around it…
ANDREA: I think the hardest scene, I think for myself, was in the car when I’m speaking with Lauren Marie Taylor, who’s an actress that was in Friday the 13th franchise. But I think the only reason why I say it was hard, it’s because being in that mental state of just so much trauma and terror that just happened to this girl. and like sitting in it and just being exhausted. It was just very exhausting and it felt hard because of that to carry that, but even that was fun. Like the whole shoot was so fun, which I know is funny to say because it was a horror. But I don’t know. It’s been my favorite, like one of my favorites to film. Kill scenes? I don’t know. Okay. I know which one you’re gonna say and i think i know which one you like. I don’t know if anybody’s mentioned this one yet: I really love the first one.
RY: It’s hard to choose because each one kind of has something special about them. Like each one kind of is like an homage to another horror scene or something. But each one kind of has their own specific thing that really kind of works.
THH: Could you talk about your experience working with director Chris Nash and how his vision influenced your performance?
ANDREA: He was so clear, I think, about the story that he wanted to tell and what he wanted to make. And he’s so funny because he’s also just, I think, the chillest person as well. Just go with the flow. Okay. Yeah. Like let’s do this thing. Sure. Sure. I don’t know. Like, I don’t know what I’m doing. And I love that. He said, he would say that all the time, but I loved that because then it gave us permission to be like, okay, neither do we, let’s just try to make this and see what happens. And it was very, I, yeah, he’s, he’s incredible. He’s, he’s truly one of a kind.
RY: He’s got a, he has a very dry, self-deprecating sense of humor, which comes in, It’s very handy when you’re having a harder day or maybe an effect isn’t going exactly the way that he wanted it to in the first place, but then finds out a way to make it work even better. He’s a very hands-on, tactile director and also very intelligent, too, on top of that. So he’s very good at fixing any kind of problems that pop up or collaborating with anybody who’s there in the moment and giving anything they can to help out in any kind of way. So It’s great working with somebody like that and somebody who’s so focused and knows exactly what they’re making. Like he’s got all the pieces lined out and you kind of have to just be your part of the puzzle and it all fits together. Which for something like this, it’s a bit of a magic trick because it sounds like a simple idea, but if it’s in the wrong hands, it wouldn’t work.
THH: After watching it I feel like there’s a lot more to explore (I have lots of questions still). Do you think this film would ever get a continuation? And if so what would you like to see in one.
ANDREA: What were we joking about, Rye? We were like… Chris and Johnny together forever. (laughs)
RY: Johnny, Johnny goes to the city.
ANDREA: It could be really cool to, to see kind of the lasting impact of what that kind of a situation would leave on somebody like, witnessing, you know, the these rampant kills of this this monster and experiencing this monster what does that do long term to somebody do people believe that that could ever happen or not like i think that could be really cool from even a psychological perspective to explore.
RY: It’s hard to with this with this one because it feels a bit similar to the ending of the threat and the evil is still out there. And that’s, what’s creepy is that you don’t know where he is. He could show up at any time and he’s still out there. And in the same way that the original Halloween was never supposed to have sequels, though, it has some great ones and there’s a bunch of them. Um, so you just never know how, you know, if a film is accepted, it might end up having sequels anyway, whether it was intentional or not. I mean, like maybe I, and I think Nash actually mentioned at some point, like, uh, like a prequel or like showing what happened, uh, But who knows? It would have to be a good idea to make it worthwhile sort of thing.
Watch the full intrview below!
In A Violent Nature is NOW playing in theaters!
