Minimalist Horror 'Undertone' Harnesses Audio to Deliver Chills
Horror filmmaker Ian Tuason is making his feature debut with "Undertone," a minimalist auditory horror film that opens in theaters this Friday the 13th. The film has already generated significant buzz after its Sundance Film Festival premiere, with some calling it "the scariest movie you'll ever hear."
Disagreeing with Hitchcock on Audience Screams
While Tuason reveres Alfred Hitchcock, he fundamentally disagrees with the master's famous claim about not needing to hear audience screams. "My favorite thing about this whole process is just watching it with audiences," Tuason told The Associated Press. "I think that's probably why I wanted to make a horror film ... just to kind of witness the reactions."
He compares the experience to telling ghost stories around a campfire: "It doesn't feel that great unless you see your friend scared."
A Minimalist Approach to Maximum Fear
"Undertone" features a remarkably stripped-down premise: the film is set in one location with essentially one character. Nina Kiri plays Evy, a skeptical paranormal podcaster caring for her dying, comatose mother upstairs. Her investigation into unnerving anonymous audio files begins to rattle her normally unshakeable skepticism.
Tuason's background in virtual reality and immersive 3D sound for horror shorts informed his approach. The script included every audio cue, resulting in a 250-page document. During filming, he removed many planned visuals, reducing the film to its essence: a woman listening through noise-canceling headphones, terrifying both herself and the audience.
The Power of Suggestion Through Sound
"Sound in movies makes space for the audience to imagine what they're not seeing," Tuason explained. "Whatever you imagine that's scary is going to be way scarier than what I can show you."
He emphasized that "there's going to be millions of different versions of this movie in millions of minds" thanks to the power of suggestion driven by sound and negative space.
With assistance from Toronto postproduction studio REDLAB and distributor A24, the film received a Dolby mix. Producer Cody Calahan noted: "It's definitely meant to be seen in the theater in Dolby, because that is the exact vision that Ian had." However, he added that watching at home with headphones offers a different, equally intense experience.
Personal Demons Fuel the Horror
The film's creation emerged from profound personal tragedy. During the pandemic in 2020, both of Tuason's parents received terminal cancer diagnoses. He moved back to their Toronto suburbs to care for them, losing his mother months later and his father two and a half years after that.
During this period of grief and heavy drinking, Tuason wrote the screenplay, merging an audio play he'd created with the story of a lone caregiver. He designed it to be producible with minimal resources: one location (his childhood home) and one actor.
"I didn't really have to write in a way where I'm trying to pitch it," Tuason said. "I think that's what gave it its honesty. Because I was going to make it either way."
He acknowledged surprising himself with his honesty about dark moments. The main character Evy represents Tuason himself, though written as a woman facing the monumental decision of whether to have a child.
Meaningful Connections and Future Projects
Tuason sees meaningful connections in the film's journey, particularly its Friday the 13th release date: "My dad passed on Friday, the 13th. And March was the last month I had with my mom."
Hollywood has already taken notice of Tuason's talent. In December, he was tapped to direct a new "Paranormal Activity" film. While he plans to continue in horror, he dreams of exploring other genres including science fiction and modern-day Kung-Fu.
For now, Tuason is focused on releasing "Undertone" and appreciating the growing separation between himself and his creation. "It's starting to feel less and less like me," he reflected. "Now I can look at it and kind of just focus on the technique, the art and have it live as a thing separate from me."
