by James Matthews
Parts of Haliburton County will be the backdrop for a Blumhouse Productions feature film.
The U.S. production company is responsible for some of the most enjoyed horror films of the past decade. You’ll recognize such titles as the Insidious franchise, the Paranormal Activity found-footage series of films, Sinister, The Purge and its sequels, Get Out, and many others.
Such directors as Mike Flanagan, Jordan Peele, James Wan, and M. Night Shyamalan have worked under the Blumhouse Productions banner.
This is not to say that one of those directors and writers will be in Haliburton County when the Canadian arm of the outfit sets lights and cameras at Camp Kandalore this fall.
Catherine Crawford, the production’s location manager, asked Algonquin Highlands township council to greenlight the use of certain roads and laneways to park equipment and trailers.
Township council approved the request with a $10,000 damage deposit that will be returned to the company after a site inspection following the production.
Crawford said the crew will need use of Kanawa Lane, at the bottom of Camp Kandalore Road, to film a scene.
That scene will involve campers arriving at the camp during a blizzard. Kanawa Lane will play as a road off of a highway where actors have to get out of the car to see where the road is.
They drive along Kanawa Lane to the entrance of Camp Kandalore and are greeted by a camp employee on a horse who guides them up the road towards the camp.
A combination of visual effects and special effects will be used to create the snow along with large fans to stir the blizzard conditions.
Crawford asked about parking some crew vehicles on Partridge Lake Road and in the lot across from the Algonquin Highland Trails office, and on a portion of the Raven Lake Boat Launch.
The crew of about 150 people will be gearing up for the film shoot until Nov. 25. Filming at Camp Kandalore starts the next day and will run until Dec. 13. Everything will be in the can by Dec. 20.
Crawford said Ontario has benefitted by Blumhouse having been lured into Canada and away from location work in New York State.
Crawford said she spoke to the Raven Lake Cottagers’ Association about using part of the boat launch parking lot. But they poo-pooed the idea and asked that cars be parked along the highway as opposed to near the water. There was also a second location for crew parking they eyed at the Frost Centre, she said.
“I must say it’s a rather complicated request,” Mayor Liz Danielsen said. “You sound like you have an awful lot of vehicles to support.”
The mayor asked why the parking on the road is necessary instead of the camp’s own space. She said the Raven Lake landing doesn’t belong to Algonquin Highlands township. It belongs to Lake of Bays, but Algonquin Highlands has a hand in winter maintenance there.
“We would have concerns, generally, in all areas about plowing,” Danielsen said. “And if there was a significant snowfall how the vehicles that you would have placed would impact our ability to plow.”
“We are parking as much as we can up at the camp,” Crawford said. “(We’re) basically taking over every square inch of parking that’s available.”
“I don’t want to sound like we’re not supportive of film crews in the county and in Algonquin Highlands,” Danielsen said. “But there are some practical complications that we just need to make sure are addressed.”
Danielsen said one of the concerns that’s been brought to her is about the imitation snow that will be used.
Crawford said it’s a biodegradable substance and snow blankets are also used. Those are pulled up and carted away when the scene ends.
Adam Thorn, the township’s public works manager, said he has no concerns about snowplowing along the routes requested for parking.
“The road is wide enough to accept parking along the side,” he said. “Currently, there is parking available for the staff of the camp for the wintertime.”
Large buses and school buses are usually parked there.
“Plowing-wise, we’ve always made arrangements to get around the buses with ease,” Thorn said.
