Pure Wisconsin horror

WAUSHARA COUNTY – Wisconsin deer hunters are aware that Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has affected whitetail deer populations throughout the state and hunters can have their deer tested to see if the deer they harvested is infected. What if a hunter ate venison that was tainted with the disease? What if eating such meat caused neurological changes in the human brain that brought forth violent urges and psychopathic behavior?

That is the premise of the new film, Creature Fear, which was filmed in Waushara County. In the opening scene, text appears on the screen providing background information about CWD to the viewer. That shifts to a nine-point buck lying dead on the ground with blood soaking the snow. A hunter approaches from behind with a scoped bolt-action rifle. It is followed by a butchering sequence with the opening credits.

We later learn the hunter (played by Jarrod Lengwinski) was a felon recently released from prison. He cannot find work and he is broke and hungry. He shoots deer out of season for venison. The time of the year is early spring and the Wisconsin landscape is stark and leafless with some scattered snow. All the deer in the area are infected with CWD.

This is the first full-length feature film for Manny Gumina who is also a deer hunter and a Wisconsin native. Like other hunters on the Wisconsin DNR mailing list, he would get regular emails warning him about CWD and information about how a deer can be tested.

“That kind of scared me. And reading more about it and realizing that prions are different than a virus or bacteria. It’s its own category of disease, related to Mad Cow Disease and that did have cases where it jumped to humans. I was reading about the differences and the prevalence of CWD and it is higher and it can spread faster because of the nature of the prions. It sticks in the ground forever, it attaches itself to foliage and all that stuff scared me. I would say the film itself is more of a character study, of what would happen to a Patient Zero? That was the genesis,” said Gumina.

The filming locations were on private property and public roads in Waushara County and at the Silvercryst Supper Club near Wautoma. The location is not directly named in the film but there is one reference to nearby Plainfield, home of Ed Gein, the madman that inadvertently influenced many films in the horror genre.

“I definitely was inspired by that lineage. I love Psycho, I love The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Silence of the Lambs comes up as an Ed Gein-inspired film. I love those movies. When I set out to write this, I thought I can actually shoot in the same county where he committed those crimes and be part of that lineage. Texas Chainsaw [Massacre] was an indy movie at the time and that was a beacon I was looking towards when writing and wanting to direct this,” said Gumina.

Creature Fear available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime and the film’s website is https://creaturefearfilm.com.