Now, I don't know about you, but the sound in horror movies frightens me so much more than visuals ever could. It's often not the sudden cuts to a severed limb or ghoulish face that makes my heart stop, it's the barely audible whispers coming from the corners of a dimly lit room or an unexpected, loud bang in the middle of a silent scene.
It's no surprise then that A24's new flick Undertone looks set to scare me silly – and well, I can hardly wait. And if you think I'm exaggerating, I dare you to watch the skin-crawling first trailer above.
The two-minute promo opens on Nina Kiri's podcast host Evie as she introduces the titular show "where we talk about all things creepy". After describing herself as the "in-house skeptic", she hands the mic over to her remote "believer" co-host, who's been sent 10 creepy voice recordings via an anonymous email. The clips are, supposedly, chock full of haunted, hidden messages but Evie isn't having any of it. That is, until they start playing them in reverse...
What follows is a montage of increasingly hair-raising shots, set to an unsettling backtrack of wailing, screaming, raspy breathing, off-kilter bandstand music, and a demonic-sounding kid saying, "I like it here in the dark." While not seen in the teaser, Kris Holden-Ried (Lost Girl), Michèle Duquet (The Virgin Suicides), Keana Lyn Bastidas (The Boys), Sarah Beaudin (ABCs of Death 2), Seled Calderon (Charlotte Sucks at Dating), and Adam DiMarco (The White Lotus) round out the supporting cast.
Described as a "nerve-shredding, audio-driven nightmare" by Screen Love Affair and a "diabolically terrifying" experience by Cinapse, it can't help but give me big meets Host meets Pulse vibes – and that bodes well for those who don't mind sleeping with the lights on.
Directed by Ian Tuason, Undertone releases on March 13. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming horror movies heading our way, or see our guide to all the most exciting upcoming movies of the year.
