In this day and age, it’s tough for a first-time horror filmmaker to not only find an untapped subject or threat to make terrifying, but also to find tools to tell such a story that don’t feel familiar or even cliché.
Allow me to introduce you to undertone writer/director Ian Tuason, who has directed only short films up to this point, although he’s apparently tied to the next Paranormal Activity film (so much for originality). Maybe there have been recent films that have centered on horror-themed podcasters, but I haven’t seen them, and this film introduces us to Evy (Nina Kiri, The Handmaid’s Tale, Fingernails), a podcast host covering spooky content who is working with her unseen co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco) from the tomb-like home of her dying mother (Michele Duquet), who rests wheezing but otherwise unresponsive in her bedroom upstairs.
The darkened home is the perfect place for the supernatural podcast The Undertone to record its latest episode concerning a series of 10 audio files received anonymously by Justin. They convey the story of a young couple expecting their first child, and with each new clip, the couple seems in more and more grave danger from what may be a demon intent on getting its hands on their unborn baby. But the recordings only seem to be getting under the skin and into the heads of our hosts—Justin the believer and Evy the in-house skeptic, who is finding it increasingly difficult to stay skeptical.
The film uses sound in a way that makes even seemingly harmless moments feel ominous. We never leave this house, so the walls feel like they are tightening in around Evy, even with Justin checking in to make sure she’s doing alright, both with the material and with taking care of her mom. Some of the scariest moments occur when Evy is convinced that terrifying sounds from the sound files—featuring loud thudding, babies crying, screaming, creepy singing, and even backwards messages—are coming from inside her house. And since she’s effectively sitting in the only room that’s fully lit and recording at the witching hour (3am), it’s difficult not to let your eyes carefully scan the backgrounds of every scene for shapes or movement in the darkness.
The few times we do follow Evy upstairs to her mother’s room, the space is cold, gray and unadorned, except for the occasional cross on the wall. There are subtle signs that Evy is seeing the happenings from the recordings parallel to what’s going on inside the house, which in turn has a real impact on her state of mind and sense of safety. The recordings are unsettling, especially when the hosts begin to research some of the messages and songs contained within, but it’s all horror gold from where I’m sitting. undertone is not your typical scare movie; while there is the occasional jump scare, it’s a largely bloodless affair. The film is more interested in letting atmosphere and symbolism set the tone for what turns into a whirlwind of psychological chaos that pushes the audio-visual landscape in ways I deeply enjoyed. undertone is an exercise in minimalist filmmaking, until it isn’t. If your imagination frequently gets the best of you when you’re alone in the dark, undertone could quite possibly mess you up.
undertone screens in theaters starting tomorrow, March 13.
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