Johnny crashed Fantastic Fest before anyone knew the sequel was ready

Fantastic Fest slipped a surprise into its midnight schedule: “In a Violent Nature 2.”

The sequel screened secretly at the festival on September 18 as a work-in-progress version of the locked picture. There is still no exact public release date, although the film is expected from Independent Film Company and Shudder.

Ry Barrett returns as Johnny, the undead killer from Chris Nash’s 2024 slasher. Nash wrote the sequel and shares directing duties this time with Nate Wilson.

The first movie got attention by doing something simple and strangely hypnotic: it spent much of its running time following the killer. Instead of waiting with the victims for Jason-shaped trouble to emerge from the trees, we walked behind Johnny while he slowly trudged through the forest toward his next disaster.

Part 2 changes the perspective.

The new story takes Johnny to Camp Puddingstone, where a bullied 14-year-old named Alex summons him by blowing a fireman’s whistle three times in the woods. The people Alex wanted revenge against have already left, unfortunately for the camp counselors still hanging around after the season ends.

So yes, Johnny now has summer camp counselors.

At this point the “Friday the 13th” comparison is sitting directly on the table drinking a beer.

The sequel also expands Johnny’s mythology with the idea that he can be summoned to kill someone’s enemies before eventually coming for the person who called him. Whether that story is actually true inside the film is left deliberately uncertain.

Practical gore remains a major part of the movie, and apparently the kills have somehow become even more aggressive.

The original already included a kill involving a cliff and a yoga pose that horror fans will probably never erase from memory.

Apparently Johnny looked at that and decided he could do worse.