‘Undertone’: A Terrifying Immersion Into Auditory Horror [REVIEW]
4.5/5 scary YouTube videos
There is a whole community out there dedicated to the creepy things that you can find online. Whether or not you believe them is up to you. But what is in undertone is meant to be believed, and it forces you to confront that most primal fear of the unknown. We all are afraid of things that go bump in the night, and especially of things we cannot explain.
Director Ian Tuason is slated to reboot the Paranormal Activity franchise, so if undertone is an example of what’s in store for us, it’s safe to say that he may somehow make Paranormal Activity scarier. The kind of originality we see in undertone is the kind that is what makes horror great.
Evy (Nina Kiri) co-hosts a popular paranormal podcast called “The Undertone.” She’s the podcast’s resident skeptic, with her co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco) being the believer. Each episode is dedicated to them discussing—and debunking—various online phenomena. Evy is also her comatose mother’s sole caretaker; surrounded by her dying mother’s possessions and religious paraphernalia lends something of a claustrophobic feeling.
Justin reveals to Evy during their usual recording session that he received a mysterious email that only contained 10 audio files. Though he is a little nervous about playing them, Evy believes it’s just another example of people making things up on the internet. When they begin listening to the audio files, though, it is clear that there’s something not right about them. They are too weird, scraping just at the edge of the YouTube-generated content that often talk about.
Though Justin is hesitant to keep listening, Evy does not share his skepticism. She wants to keep listening, so they begin recording each file as an episode of their podcast. As they do, what sounds to initially be unremarkable audio files about a couple’s sleep patterns starts to change shape into something more sinister.
The sound of silence and the horror of what exists within it
What undertone does well is lean in on its unsettling tones. Its sound puts you in Evy’s kitchen with her and surrounds you with a growing dread that only grows as each audio file is played. The sound mixing is also incredible. Whenever Evy puts her noise-canceling headphones on, all of the surrounding audio drains away. Compounding that is the claustrophobia of Evy’s environment: We never leave the house, and even when she does we’re left in her absence.
The set is Tuason’s actual childhood home, which is an added atmospheric bonus. It feels like the house our grandparents lived in, the one where things always felt a little off. There are stories within these walls, and not all of them are good. The religious imagery placed throughout the house is a foreboding omen, but that is to be expected in a horror movie that evokes the unholy.
Cinematographer Graham Beasley gives each shot enough empty space to make the viewer wonder who is going to appear in the background. The dark spaces are just wide enough to let our already-rattled minds superimpose pictures of boogeymen that may or may not be there. But even with this, it does not rely solely on jump scares.
undertone excels by being the sum of all of its parts. It’s scary, but it’s also emotional. It makes us confront the morality of not just our parents, but of ourselves as well. Evy is forced to confront a reality she didn’t think possible. When she does, she begins unraveling.
The dark side of the internet is a fascinating place. It makes sense Tuason would set this story there. See this one in Dolby. You won’t regret it.
(featured image: A24)
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