Fantastic Fest 2026 – The first secret screening of this year’s Fantastic Fest was In a Violent Nature 2. As a slasher girly, I thought the first installment was fun and different enough to spend the weekend with. However, when the sequel was announced, I was confused because there wasn’t enough to commit to. That didn’t stop my morbid curiosity about what Johnny would do in his second outing, though. That is why I’m glad I saw this movie for free at the festival and can tell you it’s a very different walk to dismember this time around.
The first movie was an arthouse film slasher mashup that put us in the killer’s POV and gave us a fairly sexy sound design. We spent most of In a Violent Nature watching Johnny walk and kill, which was a little divisive among horror fans. However, I wasn’t too annoyed because it felt like watching a horror video game I wanted to take home. The film also charmed me because of its wicked sense of humor as we watched the victims make the wrong choices. Also, who can forget the iconic namaste kill that really endeared this Jason Voorhees variant to many slasher kids like me. Sadly, the sequel doesn’t quite live up to the first one in quite a few perplexing ways.
Alex (Lucas Nguyen) is a bullied kid who is kind of annoying. His bullies give him a bad haircut and torment him on the last day of camp, which causes him to miss the bus. This is how our new lead gets stranded with the Camp Puddingston counselors and gets a front-row seat to some carnage. This also means we are stuck watching Alex walk around the campus as people get brutally murdered for most of the film’s runtime. Because we’ve seen this Friday the 13th before, we assume Alex and Johnny have some connection. However, the movie doesn’t land that plan as it tries to reach for another unnecessary entry with the ending in the final moments. This is as annoying as our final boy because nothing about the first movie screamed franchise potential. I say that as someone who enjoyed the first one for what it was and what it brought to the slasher subgenre.
Chris Nash’s script makes Johnny (Ry Barrett) an afterthought. We are no longer in his POV as he terrorizes a bunch of kids this time around. It’s jarring and puzzling because that was one of the coolest things about the first movie. This isn’t the first time a sequel swerved to keep its audiences on their toes in this subgenre. However, it makes In a Violent Nature 2 one of the many basic sequels we already have plenty of. The spark is gone as we watch the horrors our new protagonist is witnessing. It also draws attention to just how mean the kills are now that the humor isn’t there to soften the blow. While I love mean cinema, this feels out of place at times, and like a depressing reminder we’re living in post-Terrifier times. Johnny is still a formidable foe as he rips bodies apart. I also assume many people won’t mind that it’s not as fun and creative this time around. Even though the kills feel generic and hollow so nothing lives up to what he did in 2024.
Foley mixers and sound designers Tim Atkins and Michelle Hwu still understand the assignment. If that beautiful squelching and endless leaves crunching grabbed your attention in the previous entry, they still paint a serene and deadly soundscape for Johnny’s mayhem. So, have no fear. While the kills do not hit the same as they did in the first movie, the practical effects are still worth celebrating. Makeup mavens Andrea Espinoza and Erin Sweeney paint the cabins red and toss intestines around with abandon. It’s a beautiful sight for sore eyes even if the violence leading up to it doesn’t have that same pep in its step as it used to.
Unfortunately, another thing In a Violent Nature 2 shares with its predecessor is a similar pacing problem. The Fantastic Fest audience was shown an early cut of the film, so hopefully it can still be fixed. As of now, though, Nate Wilson’s direction is too tender, and too many scenes last for what feels like an eternity. This is a wild juxtaposition with the ripping apart of so many bodies in cruel ways. We love violence, but it feels like this surprise franchise is trying on its older siblings’ clothes that do not fit or flatter it.
This sequel is fine but doesn’t earn the same goodwill as the previous entry. It’s mean in weird ways, forgets everything that made the premise unique enough to swipe right on, and is a bit of a snooze at times. However, it is an interesting experiment because it makes you wonder how we got here. Is this a case of listening to the internet? Or a case of trying to force a sequel because you can? Maybe a bit of both? All we can hope for is that if Johnny returns for this third movie that In a Violent Nature 2 hints at, the creatives find their path and go back to marching to the beat of their own weird drummer.
