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Historically speaking, horror has not been a big-budget genre. While we occasionally get a World War Z or a Van Helsing, it’s often reliant on making a lot out of a little, with some of the most iconic genre films of all time boasting low budgets, such as Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead or George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
There’s low-budget, but then there’s ultra-low-budget. That’s Deer Camp ’86, a new supernatural horror film that had to contend with a shoestring budget, all while a global pandemic was raging. Despite this, an award-winning indie full of impressive, practical effects emerged.
The film takes place in the fall of 1986 and centers on six knuckleheads from Detroit who travel north to partake in the annual tradition of deer hunting. But they awaken something horrific, and the hunters become the hunted. The ensemble includes Noah LaLonde, Jay J. Bidwell, Arthur Cartwright, Brian Michael Raetz, Josh Dominguez, David Lautman, Tina Joy, and Paul Wilson. It shines a light on the real-life, horrific frequency of indigenous women and girls who go missing each year. As is so often the case, horror is the perfect genre to hold a mirror up to society.
Harold Cronk directed the film under the pseudonym L. Van Dyke Siboutszen. Cronk, who had previously directed religious hits like God’s Not Dead, opted to film this one under a different name so people wouldn’t get the wrong idea. “I didn’t want people that are fans of horror and these types of films to pre-judge the film based on my other work,” he explained. Producer and co-writer Eric Machiela used one as well, going by Riley Taurus, for similar reasons.
“During Covid we were like, man, let’s make a movie,” Cronk said of the inception of the idea. They had to find something they could make for “$4 and a bucket of chicken,” and they landed on doing a horror film. While the budget was a little more than $4 and a bucket of chicken, it was far less than even the average low-budget horror film. Deer Camp ‘86 is the definition of working on a nothing budget. Despite the limitations, Cronk managed to craft a film full of impressive visuals, all of which had to rely on practical ingenuity rather than expensive, CGI-heavy solutions.
“We definitely wanted it to feel like it was a throwback to those incredible ’80s horror films,” Cronk said. While the filmmaker admits he wasn’t a big horror guy before taking on this film, he watched stuff like The Conjuring and The Descent in preparation. Evil Dead 2, The Cabin in the Woods, and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil were earmarked as touchstones for inspiration. As for the evil presence at the center of it all? A mysterious being lurks in the forest, striking every so often – with deadly results.
“We wanted it to become kind of an iconic visual,” Cronk said of the mask, which is donned by the deadly entity of the woods. They cooked up a bunch of concept art before meeting with the local Indigenous tribes in Michigan to make sure they had an iconic look, yes, but also to ensure they were getting it right.
Cronk’s previous life as an art teacher certainly came into play here. As impressive as the mask looks, the director took a very DIY approach, using modeling clay and other easy to obtain materials. Upon seeing the film, one would be hard-pressed to assume the mask was made using so little.
The entity in the film is almost entirely accomplished through practical means, with a little bit of CGI augmentation. But, in the end, that winds up being more interesting to the filmmakers – and certainly the audience as well. “To most people, a full CGI creature is just not very interesting,” Machiela mused. “When you can blend practical and digital effects, that’s kind of the marriage made in heaven,” Cronk added.
The film relies heavily on what Cronk and Machiela lovingly call “Michenuity,” aka ingenuity in the backwoods of Michigan. The “duct tape and binder twine” school of filmmaking. From filming in a friend’s barn to getting people from the community to help pull off a major, complicated stunt involving an ‘80s Chevy Suburban (affectionately referred to as “The Beast”), it was about making the most of what they had.
In that instance, they had one chance to get the shot and, to ensure they got what they needed, they had every phone on set filming, as well as the cameras. The Michenuity worked. “You can’t throw money at problems, you have to throw Michenuity at it,” Cronk concluded.
While there is much to highlight in terms of the kills and visuals they crammed into Deer Camp ’86 on their “$4 and a bucket of chicken” budget, Cronk is particularly fond of one that involves pulling one of the characters into the Earth at one point. On a bigger production, CGI almost certainly would have been leaned on. Not here, though.
The jack-of-all-trades production designer Mike Anderson was able to help make the deceptively impressive scene happen by digging out a big hole with a backhoe in a barn, building a ramp in said hole that was covered with trampoline tarp and leaves, while leaving holes for an unsuspecting victim to slide into the Earth. All of this is augmented just enough with a CGI “Earth burp” by the folks at Mutiny FX. Voila! An inventive kill on a budget.
“Any time you can throw money at things, you stop thinking,” Cronk Said. Because of the budgetary limitations, they had to figure out how to make the Earth shake with virtually no money. No problem. Just get a piece of plywood, put some leaves on it, and rattle it with a massage gun. Once again, a convincing effect on the cheap.
All of the Michenuity and hard work was rewarded when Deer Camp ’86 won the Best Special Effects award at the 15th Annual Screamfest Horror Film Festival. With virtually no money while contending with a global pandemic, they managed to craft a true, old-school horror flick good enough to win a prestigious award. Cronk reflected on winning the award by highlighting the team effort to accomplish something like this under such difficult circumstances.
“It was incredible. Thinking back to what our crew did, what an incredible job they did with very difficult circumstances and limitations, it was a proud moment. We’ve always called this the little film that can. In that moment, it did.”
Sure, money can accomplish much in the world of film, but there’s no substitute for applied knowledge. “I tell young filmmakers all the time, it’s a lot about life experience,” Cronk said. For him, that experience comes from taking wood shop in high school or fixing his own truck in Michigan when it would break down. These skills were invaluable while making the film. “You have to learn how to work with things and understand how things operate,” he added. “Sometimes the practical solution can absolutely be better.”
Deer Camp ‘86 hits theaters nationwide on May 31, with select screenings in the Michigan area leading up to the wide release. You can find tickets and showtime information at the official Deer Camp ’86 website.
*Sponsored by DEER CAMP ‘86.
