There are so many ways to tap into the fear of an audience with a horror film, but not many take the route of utilising sound like Undertone does. It makes for an interesting experiment, but does it actually make for a good horror film?
Evy (Nina Kiri), a podcast host covering spooky content moves in to care for her dying mother. When sent recordings of a pregnant couple's paranormal encounters, she discovers their story parallels hers, each tape pushing her toward madness.
The sound design in Undertone is its shining light, instantly making you feel uncomfortable anytime Evy puts the headphones on for a podcast recording session. It's all about the sounds and the detail in the recordings, a sense of unease growing with each new one played throughout. In a world where so many horrors utilise such cheap jump scares, it's nice to see a horror draw an audience in through sound. You're so immersed in the audio that you can't help but feel something is going to jump out from anywhere.
Ian Tuason does a solid job in creating tension but sadly, it doesn't feel a strong enough method to sustain a feature length horror film. Maybe a short would have been served better by the approach, as it starts to get a little underwhelming towards the finish line. That and the fact that the subject matter of child loss being so ham-fisted into the narrative is a bit off-putting, a trigger warning definitely required for this one.
A lot of the film's success hinges on Nina Kiri's performance, and it's safe to say she comes out of this covered in glory. She's sat on a chair recording a podcast for most of the film and she manages to keep you engaged and believably conveys a range of emotions that help the narrative move along. You can sense the dread setting in the further film goes on and Kiri's performance is yet another one from the horror genre that excels.
If you're looking for a different experience with a horror film, Undertone may be the film for you. It might make you think again before putting a pair of headphones on in the future.
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