by Shane Conto, Staff Writer
Does every film have to be big and complex to make you feel like you got your money’s worth? When you go see Avatar: The Way of Water, you will certainly get plenty for that ticket (190 minutes of film and endless special effects will certainly do that). Comic book films have set the standard for escalation, as some of them crack that $300 million budget threshold, which is completely insane. But that is not always the needed amount. You don’t need hundreds of millions of dollars or to offer up over three hours of film to get your audience to feel satisfied.
How does writer-director Shujaat Saudagar show that you only need a little to deliver a lot? The Underbug. This is an unexpected new horror film out of India that delivers quite the experience in a small package. This film clocks in at only one hour and six minutes. You can fit THREE of these films in just the runtime of the new Avatar. The film focuses on a man hiding out in an abandoned home during some type of uprising. This singular and simple setting out in the jungle is considerably cheaper than the alternative of globe or universe hopping. One setting and a runtime of just over an hour seems out of the question in today’s landscape, but The Underbug delivers some impressive goods.
What is Saudagar able to do to maximize his film with such a low budget and limited presence? The atmosphere. One of the first things you notice watching this film is the richness of the world and atmosphere. The opening consists of zoomed-in and detailed shots of insects in the jungle. This makes you wonder what the purpose of them is, all while offering up engaging visuals. Once in this haunting home, we are treated to a few sets of really impactful scares, which I would have expected in a different, bigger film. Saudagar shirks tradition and lazy jump scares with an impressive use of deep focus, and he delivers expected manifestations in the background. You don’t need in-your-face jump scares when the atmosphere and the background can terrify you.
Does Saudagar (and fellow writers Abbas Dalal and Hussain Dalal) deliver in-word what they are able to in the atmosphere? There are basically only two characters to work with in the film, and each is completely unique in the way that life reacts to different situations. Our original protagonist breathes desperation, while awkwardly trying to keep himself alive with revolution killing so many outside and a dark presence on the inside. The other person who finds his way into this forsaken home is intense and brash, which causes conflict with our protagonist right away. This oil and water dynamic just keeps ratcheting up tension as the terrors multiply and the climax quickly arrives. The story is unexpected (though maybe not as shocking as they hoped), but no one can deny the atmosphere and scares along the way.
Can this little Indian horror film deliver for audiences? The Underbug has enough substance to make sure that the audience is unnerved along the way. There might be something to say with such a violent backdrop as well, but this is a real, solid, and effective sprint of a film.
Score: 7/10
The Underbug will debut at the Slamdance Film Festival on January 21
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