The “Yoga-Kill” rig is the practical effects apparatus designed by writer-director Chris Nash and special effects lead Steven Kostanski for the breakout kill sequence in the 2024 Canadian slasher film In a Violent Nature. The rig consisted of three silicone Aurora dummies with detachable limbs and fake hook appliances, each with its head and torso at different stages of contortion, including one where the neck could stretch up to 180 degrees to fit inside the stomach hole. The sequence won Best Kill at the 2024 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards and became arguably the most debated practical effects set piece of the decade.

Chris Nash and the Road to In a Violent Nature

Chris Nash is a Canadian filmmaker from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, who spent years working behind the camera as a practical effects artist before stepping into the director’s chair. Nash directed the final segment in ABCs of Death 2 (2014), the twisted horror anthology; his short “Z is for Zygote” sent the sequel out on a high note with a wonderfully grotesque bit of body horror. He later served as on-set creature effects supervisor on Steven Kostanski’s Psycho Goreman (2020), building props and applying creature makeups for the sci-fi comedy.

It was on that very Psycho Goreman set that In a Violent Nature was born. Nash has described a shop-floor conversation with Kostanski, cinematographer Pierce Derks, and producer Peter Kuplowsky where the group kicked around the idea of a slasher told entirely from the killer’s perspective. Nash drew stylistic inspiration from the Gus Van Sant-directed films Gerry (2002), Elephant (2003), and Last Days (2005), which he characterizes as “slower, more methodical, more deliberate.” He was also inspired by the Austrian horror film Angst.

A Film Reshot in the Middle of Nowhere

Getting the film made was a grueling process. Filming initially took place in the Kawartha Lakes area of Central Ontario in 2021, but Nash later recalled that the locale “just felt like it wasn’t hitting the right note.” The film was ultimately shot in Algoma District, Ontario, near Sault Ste. Marie. Nash has said publicly that approximately 70% of the movie was reshot at a different location with a different lead actor after the original star suffered a medical issue early in production.

The final film was shot in a remote region of Northern Ontario so remote that it would take upwards of 30 minutes to hike to set. Nash told Variety: “To my producers’ chagrin, I’m always like, ‘No, it takes place in the middle of nowhere, so we have to go into the middle of nowhere.’”

Designing the Yoga-Kill Rig: Three Bodies, One Impossible Contortion

The scene itself is deceptively simple in setup. Aurora (Charlotte Creaghan) ventures off alone to do some cliffside yoga when Johnny targets her as his next victim. In a sequence that defies description, Johnny disembowels Aurora with his rusty hook, then yanks her head backwards through the gaping hole in her stomach.

Executing this on screen without CGI required a rig of ingenious simplicity. The grotesque realism was accomplished thanks to Kostanski, who used three Aurora dummies with detachable limbs at different levels of the contortion process. For one of them, the neck could be bent 180 degrees, allowing it to believably fit into the open cavity. This, combined with careful editing and sound design, created one of the most disturbing kills of recent horror.

Nash has described the design philosophy as weapon-specific. He wanted a death that could not be replicated with a machete or a blade. Hooks pull. Hooks drag. That mechanical logic drove the entire concept. In my view, the kill has a darkly comic quality — Nash has compared it to slapstick, noting that the situational irony of a yoga practitioner being contorted to death was the dark punchline.

Since the dummy weighed around 50 pounds, the kick down the cliffside was done in one take. As Nash told Variety, the body was supposed to fall all the way to the bottom but only went halfway down — and the team decided the result was funnier that way. Johnny’s just like, “Eh, good enough. Carry on.”

The Nash-Kostanski Partnership and the Toronto Practical Effects Scene

While embarking on his career as a makeup artist and prosthetics expert, Canadian Steven Kostanski was also starting out as a director. He juggled making several short films with his work in the makeup departments on films such as The Haunting in Connecticut, until 2011 saw the release of his debut feature, Manborg. That same year, he was also part of the team of directors from the Astron-6 collective who made the irreverent Father’s Day. His résumé in makeup includes work on the Wrong Turn and Resident Evil sagas, as well as Hannibal, Crimson Peak, Suicide Squad, It, and In a Violent Nature.

I’d argue this partnership is the secret engine of the entire film. Both Nash and Kostanski think like builders first, storytellers second. They know what silicone can do under daylight, how blood pumps read on camera, and where the edit needs to land to sell an impossible gag. In my view, that shared vocabulary is what makes the yoga kill feel less like a stunt and more like a magic trick performed in broad daylight with no place to hide the wires.

Nash told The Direct that the goal was “to see something that I’d never seen before. And that goes for everything.” He added: “It was always as hard as we can, whenever we can. That’s where the spectacle is of the film… we were kind of conducting an experiment.”

Reception: Vomit Bags and Standing Ovations

The film had its world premiere on January 22, 2024, at the Sundance Film Festival, as part of the festival’s “Midnight” program. IFC Films released it on 1,426 screens on May 31, 2024, marking the widest opening release in the studio’s history. It earned $410,000 in Thursday night previews and went on to gross $2.1 million during its opening weekend, marking the second-best opening for IFC Films.

The yoga kill became the film’s calling card almost instantly. The yoga kill won Best Kill at the 2024 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. Reports of audience members vomiting at festival screenings circulated widely, though, to be fair, such claims are as old as The Exorcist and should be taken with a grain of salt. What’s undeniable is the polarization. Sight & Sound noted that the “gruesome practical effects… are presented without shock cuts or jump scares, as things which happen in (violent) nature rather than outrages against a moral universe.”

Online horror communities erupted. As Collider wrote: “Look at the situational irony in this vicious kill: Johnny kills a woman doing Yoga, a famously flexible practice, by contorting her to death.” Comparisons to the bedroom scene in Terrifier 2 became a defining debate among horror fans, with opinion splitting roughly evenly between those who valued cruelty and those who valued invention.

The Scrapped Kill and What It Tells Us

Not every rig made it to the screen. Kostanski told Variety that a drowning kill was originally planned: Johnny would walk into a lake, hook a swimming girl’s foot, pull her down, and hold her there until she drowned. They had fake foot prosthetics and a half-hook appliance for the actress, but weather conditions forced the scene to be scrapped and reimagined.

That abandoned ambition tells you something about Nash’s instincts. He reaches for the most technically punishing version of every gag, then negotiates with reality. It reads like the mindset of someone who grew up building things with his hands in Northern Ontario, where you figure it out yourself or you don’t figure it out at all.

The Blu-Ray and What Comes Next

The In a Violent Nature Collector’s Edition Blu-ray arrived on October 22, 2024, loaded with over three hours of special features, including a behind-the-scenes segment titled “The Yoga Kill: Candid On-Set Footage” that shows the dummy rigs, the prosthetic makeup on actress Charlotte Creaghan, and the gallons of fake blood deployed across multiple setups.

A sequel, In a Violent Nature 2, was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 by IFC Films and Shudder. Peter Kuplowsky and Shannon Hamner were announced as producers, while Nash was to return to write the screenplay. Principal photography began in Canada in September 2025, with Ry Barrett returning as Johnny. Kostanski teased to Variety: “I feel like there’s definitely room for more Johnny adventures. I wouldn’t mind seeing him end up in suburbia at some point.”

My take: the yoga kill set an impossibly high bar. But if anyone understands how to top a rig built from silicone, detachable limbs, and sheer audacity, it’s the two guys who built the first one in a clearing thirty minutes from the nearest road.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the “Yoga-Kill” rig in In a Violent Nature?

The rig consisted of three silicone Aurora dummies with detachable limbs and fake hook appliances. Each body had its head and torso at different stages of contortion, including one where the neck could stretch up to 180 degrees to fit in the stomach hole. No CGI was used for the effect.

Who designed the Yoga-Kill practical effects?

The grotesque realism was accomplished by special effects lead Steven Kostanski, who used three Aurora dummies with detachable limbs at different levels of the contortion process. Writer-director Chris Nash conceived the kill and storyboarded every shot.

Did the Yoga-Kill win any awards?

The yoga hook impalement in In a Violent Nature won Best Kill at the 2024 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca of Dead Meat presented the award.

How much did In a Violent Nature gross at the box office?

The film grossed $4,229,999 domestically and $4,561,656 worldwide, on what was IFC Films’ widest opening release ever at 1,426 screens.

Is there a sequel to In a Violent Nature?

Yes. In a Violent Nature 2 was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. Nash is writing the screenplay, and principal photography began in Canada in September 2025 with Ry Barrett returning as Johnny.

What were Chris Nash’s stylistic inspirations for the film?

Nash drew inspiration from Gus Van Sant’s Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days, which he characterizes as “slower, more methodical, more deliberate.” He was also inspired by the Austrian horror film Angst , as well as classic slashers like My Bloody Valentine and The Burning.