Photo via IMDb
By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Creepy old recordings of children singing nursery rhymes, demonic incantations said backwards, flickering lights, and periodic thumping attempt to terrify, but only succeed in inducing yawns. “Undertone” is the latest low budget horror film that desperately tries to be the next “Blair Witch Project.” While the concept may be clever and innovative, the style and brand of horror is boringly derivative.
As a self-proclaimed skeptic, Evy (Nina Kiri) ironically hosts a paranormal podcast with her friend Justin (Adam DiMarco). Things get weird when Justin airs these odd recordings sent to him anonymously, depicting a couple seemingly haunted by a demonic presence. As they listen to the ten recordings, a door opens to the other side, and the malevolent force that comes through is something Evy is ill-prepared to handle.
Making his feature film debut is Ian Tuason, who writes and directs “Undertone,” and he shows some decent ability in crafting a film on a micro-budget of $500,000. However, just because this is an independent horror flick, lacking the high-priced tools of a major studio production, doesn’t mean viewers should turn a blind eye to the lack of quality. Tuason fashions this story as a slow burn, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but when combined with the fact there is only one filming location, one visible main character, and genre conventions that feel all too familiar, a dull, forgettable experience is all that is left.
Simply showing the main character with her headphones on doing her podcast in low lighting with vague images and noises happening in the peripheral and background is not enough to build a frightening thriller. Having the main character’s co-host only heard over the phone and not on screen and in the same room as her is also a mistake, limiting the fear potential to just her. Then there’s the odd inclusion of the main character’s mother, who is shown as an elderly comatose woman in bed that seemingly becomes possessed and eerily moves around a bit from time to time. Without sufficient backstories, these additional characters come across as superfluous and uninteresting. Tuason doesn’t even make much of an attempt to provide depth to the main character, let alone side characters.
This rookie director does show some promise when it comes to the technical aspects of filmmaking in the horror genre. Credit Tuason for building tension and suspense through auditory horror and lighting, or lack thereof. There are certain scenes that make the hair rise a little, especially when he displays a pitch-black room, forcing the audience to rely only on hearing and making the unseen all the scarier. The cinematography is also well done with fixed shots of the rooms in the house, giving way to a slow panning of what is hidden, further heightening audience awareness of what is about to be revealed. Unfortunately, Tuason neglects the payoffs, yielding not a single jump-scare attempt or worthwhile visual experience.
The acting in this movie couldn’t be more unassuming with the entirety of the story centered around the one character played by Nina Kiri. Her performance was fine, but nothing remotely close to memorable. There is just not enough life in her performance, not enough genuine fear, and certainly not enough presence to make her stand out in a meaningful way. The blandness of her reactions and line delivery mute the excitement of the scenes. Even though Nina is on screen for almost 100% of the film’s duration, audiences will leave having a tough time recalling her face or even her name for that matter.
Don’t buy into A24’s embellishing marketing of this film, because it is nowhere near being the scariest film, unless you’ve never seen a horror flick. “Undertone” is one of those slow burns where the flame never gets lit. An emotionally hollow story and nondescript performance overshadow the low-budget technical achievements, yielding a frighteningly drab experience.
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