Undertone review: Consider me creeped out!
The type of horror films that really get to me most are the home-based supernatural ones where unexplained things go bump in the night. Ones where you don’t know what’s going to appear or when. Undertone has received mixed reviews, but it really worked on me. Consider me creeped out!
The film stars Nina Kiri as Evy, who has recently returned to her childhood home in Canada to look after her sick mother, who is now confined to her bed and unable to speak. Nina runs the supernatural phenomenon podcast, The Undertone, with Justin (Adam DiMarco), in which he’s the believer and she’s the sceptic. He receives 10 mysterious audio recordings via email, and they play them on the podcast, listening to a couple – Mike and Jessa (Jeff Yung and Keana Lyn Bastidas) experiencing a possible possession. During the process, Evy becomes increasingly paranoid and fearful, thinking a similar paranormal episode is happening to her.
Evy and her dying mother (Michele Duquet) are the only characters who appear on screen. The rest are voice only, which means the film relies heavily on sound design. Writer-director Ian Tuason has constructed a 3D soundscape where noise comes at you from all over the cinema, and it’s hard to tell what sounds are coming from the recordings or inside the house. Tuason has created an immersive experience, putting you in the creepy house with Evy, although this may not hit the same when watching Undertone at home.
While the content of the audio clips are progressively creepy and unsettling, the horror of Undertone becomes more about what’s happening in Evy’s house, or what she thinks is happening. You’re never too sure. Tuason uses off-kilter camera movements, negative space in the framing of his shots and slow pans around the room to make you think you’re about to see something scary. While it’s mostly just a tease that leads to nothing, the buildup was very effective with me, and I found myself hiding behind my hands in anticipation. It builds tension and dread and feels as if it’s working towards something major. Although there is some scary stuff in the final act, the payoff wasn’t big enough. I was expecting more and felt let down.
I wasn’t surprised to find out that Undertone originally began as a radio play. A “found audio” project – as opposed to found footage – seems well suited to that medium. Turning it into a film brings a fresh set of challenges, not least because film is a visual medium and there’s not much to look at when the clips are playing. Some people may find it boring and slow (it does feel longer than 90 minutes to be fair), but the visual teases played on what scares me – where did that noise come from? Is there someone/something there? – so I was freaked out.
Although they are performed well – the voice actors were particularly impressive – the characters are very thinly written, the podcast recording didn’t feel realistic, and I would have liked to know more about everybody. But this is designed to be an immersive horror experience, and it delivers upon that, although the ending is disappointing.
In cinemas from Friday 10th April