Grave greetings: Scares aplenty with ‘In a Violent Nature’

IN A VIOLENT NATURE **** (94 minutes) R
Here’s another fabulous horror offering, a brilliant little shocker with an entirely appropriate title that inverts a conventional slashfest with loads of style and cinematic invention without ever forgetting its duty to deliver a decent quotient of gore and fear.

A group of youngsters camping in the picturesque Canadian woods disturb the resting place of a fireman, who promptly rises from the ground to set upon hem in a singularly merciless fashion

What distinguishes the film as a genre piece are the ingenious stylistic turns writer/director Chris Nash takes to infuse real menace and tension into the template of a formulaic horror scenario. We’ve seen kids in the woods being terrorized for decades, but never with so much impact.

Deploying great cinematography and sound design – never have the usually tranquil sounds of nature been so ominous – the film methodically takes a gaggle of genre cliches and reworks them to nerving effect. The scene at the lake proves particularly compelling.

A must for genre fans hungry for something fresh the film is a knockout, deserving extra credit for its attitude to using music to heighten the creeps.

EZRA ***1/2 (101 minutes) M
Showing a healthy disregard for mawkish cliches, Ezra unspools as an energetically paced, emotionally honest dramedy that homes in on a hapless father desperately trying to keep his life together while coping with an autistic son.

Max (Bobby Cannavale) has a range of deeply set anger issues as he does battle with ex-wife Jenna (Rose Byrne) over the raising of their boy Ezra (William Fitzgerald).

Struggling to make it as a New York stand up, he is also in a tense relationship with his dad/housemate Stan (Robert De Niro), a highly likeable if acidic soul who is eager to keep Max from repeating his failures as a father.

An opportunity to do a spot on the Jimmy Kimmel talk show sees him head off on an unauthorised road trip with Ezra, prompting Stan and Jenna to also hit the road as they race with welfare officers eager to collar Max.

Very well-directed by Tony Goldwyn (a fine actor best known as the bad guy in Ghost), Cannavale and Byrne register very naturalistic performances alongside De Niro, who again proves his worth in a strong supporting role.

Rainn Wilson (The Office) has a lovely bit part while Whoopi Goldberg reminds us how good she is when not disgorging spiels on The View.

THE FABULOUS FOUR *** (99 minutes) M
A quartet of long-time chums band together for a latter-life wedding in the affable, lightweight reunion comedy The Fabulous Four, directed breezily by Australian Jocelyn Morehouse (The Dressmaker).

Age-old resentments flare up in this well-honed fairy floss as Marilyn (Bette Midler) plans to trek down the aisle again, with gal pals Alice (Megan Mullally), Kitty (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Lou (Susan Sarandon) joining her in Florida’s Key West as bridesmaids.

Things start off cheerily enough with Marilyn assiduously documents everything for TikTok. However, Lou can’t let go of her long-standing bitterness over how Marilyn once stole her man.

She finds some solace after meeting an attractive bar owner (Bruce Greenwood), but this only ends up complicating matters.

Morehouse maintains a congenial tone throughout, with loads of references to local legend Ernest Hemingway, a nice message regarding long-term friendship and a cameo by singer Michael Bolton.

It’s a very pleasant film that begs the question: why doesn’t Midler do more comedy? From the evidence here she’s lost none of her comic spark.

SLEEPING DOGS ***1/2 (110 minutes) MA
An absorbing slow-burn thriller with a very strong plot and a terrific finale, Sleeping Dogs is a sterling, noir-tinged mystery with Russell Crowe at his brooding best as Roy Freeman, an ex-detective undergoing new treatment for Alzheimer’s.

He is compelled to re-examine an old case when a convicted killer about to be executed strenuously protests his innocence.

It’s a stylishly mounted piece with Crowe making up for some of the low flyers he’s inflicted upon us lately.