All men are created evil.Nature of the Beast by director Victor Salva is actually one of the better movies I've never heard of. Some might recall Salva's work from cult classics such as Clownhouse, Powder or Jeepers Creepers and as only his second film, Nature of the Beast stands as a solid thriller and a testament to his talent.
As only Salva's second film, Nature of the Beast explores a more sophisticated side of the slasher genre that relies mainly on the atmosphere created by its characters to drive the narrative. The main characters are Jack (Lance Henriksen) and Adrian (Eric Roberts), equally bad men but each with completely different motives who seem to be connected to a serial killer known as "Hatchet Man." I'll skip the details as to not spoil any plot points, suffice it to say that the film explores the effects of society (or lack thereof) and the "boredom" in which men commit evil deeds.
While its admittingly not big on action, the pacing of the film leaves plenty of time for the subtext to sink in and with only two main characters throughout the entire story Henriksen and Roberts provide stellar performances. A definite rental for fans of hitchhiker films and, even though its currently out of print, copies I found for purchase on Amazon are going for less than 5 bucks. Not too shabby.
Ooh Hatchet Man sounds great! Love this stuff