Ian Tuason
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Connections, in both directions
Much of Undertone feels like listening to an audio feed of Paranormal Activity, but those who share a bed with a sleep-talking partner (particularly a pregnant one) should find something to be spooked by in its setup.
While several horror titles have attempted to capture the horror potential of domestic spaces (notably Paranormal Activity, a franchise Tuason will soon add to) the parts never come together in Undertone…
Like Paranormal Activity and The Invisible Man, the horror is not about what you see; it’s about what you can’t see.
Undertone wants to be on the same level as a Paranormal Activity or Host.
The boyfriend recordings in particular feel like a direct nod to Paranormal Activity, but where that franchise eventually became about spectacle, Undertone keeps pulling inward.
…dares to ask, “What if Paranormal Activity was meditative?”
The last few images up the ante, evoking “The Blair Witch Project” with its chaos of wall drawings and general air of unseen menace…
…there's a Blair Witch Project sense of inescapable doom threading through…
The Blair Witch Project (1999) famously emerged as handheld camcorders became domestic staples, transforming personal documentation into something ominous.
Undertone belongs in the same ballpark as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity…
The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and Skinamarink are just a few of the motion pictures that implore audiences to look closely at the edge of any given frame.
…the last chaotic minutes of the film reference everything from "The Blair Witch Project" to "Paranormal Activity"…
This being an A24 horror, the script leans heavily on family trauma (see also: Hereditary, Bring Her Back, Midsommar, Talk To Me)…
Tuason’s film wears a lot of its inspirations, ranging from The Babadook to Hereditary and more on its sleeve.
It often feels like it’s trying to combine the existential dread of Skinamarink with the unholy parental angst of Hereditary, but it all just feels too clean, too well produced, too reliant on tired genre trappings, to fully give into the cosmic horror it merely hints at.
Instead, he relies on tropes reminiscent of The Babadook (2014) or Hereditary (2018) to sustain ambiguity.
At least Tuason used a real demon, but so did “Hereditary” (2018), but that movie had the decency to feel demonic.
Tuason’s influences are obvious and all over the place: there’s a lot of Hereditary in here, some Paranormal Activity, and even The Ring.
Undertone is Pontypool, Skinamarink and Sinister for an age of podcasts, ASMR and Creepypasta.
It often feels like it’s trying to combine the existential dread of Skinamarink with the unholy parental angst of Hereditary, but it all just feels too clean, too well produced, too reliant on tired genre trappings, to fully give into the cosmic horror it merely hints at.
One might go into “Undertone” expecting something as cold and alienating as “Skinamarink.”
Unlike Skinamarink (2022), which has little to offer hardcore horror fans, Tuason’s movie builds the tension deliberately, with an acute attention to detail that pays off the closer one looks and listens.
The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and Skinamarink are just a few of the motion pictures that implore audiences to look closely at the edge of any given frame.
Some viewers have compared undertone to the experimental horror film Skinamarink, a bizarre fever dream that used blurry imagery, diminished lighting, and unsettling sound design to capture a child’s fear of being alone at night.
…a The Ring-esque video…
Tuason’s influences are obvious and all over the place: there’s a lot of Hereditary in here, some Paranormal Activity, and even The Ring.
…even The Ring…
Subsequent entries such as Unfriended (2014) and Host (2020) furthered this evolution, excavating horror from social media and our dependence on connectivity.
Hell, I even had fun with Unfriended.
…from home video surveillance in Paranormal Activity to online on-screen meetings like Unfriended…
Undertone is Pontypool, Skinamarink and Sinister for an age of podcasts, ASMR and Creepypasta.
Throw in a little "Sinister" mixed with heavy creepypasta influences, and you've got yourself a film that feels more than a touch predictable.
…much of the second act of the film bears similarities to Sinister (Justin even uncovers a demonic connection later on, identifying a figure that’s essentially Bughuul from Sinister)…
On another note, I would like to recommend the film called “Monolith” (2022) with a similar premise that, although suspenseful, is more in the vein of sci-fi rather than horror.
If you enjoy Undertone as much as I did, be sure to check out the single setting podcast film Monolith…
Podcast horror is en vogue right now, from the lo-fi Australian tale Monolith to even the ill-fated true crime podcasters in Halloween (2018).
Even the bedroom Evy’s mother is sleeping in is a visual callback to The Exorcist. Evy has to climb a flight of stairs up every time to get to the bedroom, and even the lighting from the lamp has a similar cold blue hue where you can imagine Max von Sydow and Jason Miller squaring off Linda Blair.
That’s a well-worn trope, of course, harnessed by everything from The Exorcist to Poltergeist and recent canine horror Good Boy, but Tuason makes good use of his simple, single setting.
Undertone is Pontypool, Skinamarink and Sinister for an age of podcasts, ASMR and Creepypasta.
…these are tricks we’ve specifically seen/heard before in audio-forward horror like Session 9 or Pontypool…
Tuason’s film wears a lot of its inspirations, ranging from The Babadook to Hereditary and more on its sleeve.
Instead, he relies on tropes reminiscent of The Babadook (2014) or Hereditary (2018) to sustain ambiguity.
Undertone wants to be on the same level as a Paranormal Activity or Host.
Subsequent entries such as Unfriended (2014) and Host (2020) furthered this evolution, excavating horror from social media and our dependence on connectivity.
Evy is cast as the skeptic in the vein of Scully from “X-Files” and Justin is her very gullible Fox Mulder.
They are basically the Mulder and Scully of the podcast realm, with Evy the natural skeptic.
Podcast horror is en vogue right now, from the lo-fi Australian tale Monolith to even the ill-fated true crime podcasters in Halloween (2018).
Podcasters typically don’t fare well in horror movies, with the most infamous example being those hideous Brits in Halloween (2018) who get exactly what they deserve.
Tuason actively has something to say about the nature of such a project, unlike Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks, which stopped dead in its tracks right after its faux-documentary cold open.
…certain scenes can feel a little too familiar to other recent demon movies like Shelby Oaks…
This being an A24 horror, the script leans heavily on family trauma (see also: Hereditary, Bring Her Back, Midsommar, Talk To Me)…
…and 2025’s Bring Her Back…
A bit more fine tuning and it might have been a Repulsion for the earbuds era.
…this one follows in the echoing footsteps of indefatigable classic “The Changeling”…
That’s a well-worn trope, of course, harnessed by everything from The Exorcist to Poltergeist and recent canine horror Good Boy, but Tuason makes good use of his simple, single setting.
Such segments evoke Paranormal Activity and Derek Jarman’s Blue, intentionally creating unnerving dissonance between very raw, emotional audio and unvarying visuals. Blue used this juxtaposition to reflect the globe’s apathy toward the AIDS crisis and his own AIDS-induced partial blindness.