According to Poltermann, the film, shot during the autumn with leaves decomposing, had a "secluded feel to it", making it look like it was "set in northern Wisconsin," despite being around 30 minutes away from Milwaukee. Filming was mostly outdoors, often starting at 8am each morning and would sometimes not finish until 11pm. Some scenes, according to Poltermann, were lifted from classic fright-flicks including The Shining and Rosemary's Baby, which he referred to as "visual sampling" in paying homage to great horror movies. A mechanical rubber tongue was created which was capable of complex movements, however it developed a cabling fault within the first few minutes of its first scene. With only one operational cable resulting in a one-sided limp tongue and limited to just small twitches, some scenes were adjusted to take in to account the limited operation. Scenes with the tongue were shot partially as reverse motion, but also some were done with effects that required hiring an effects technician at a cost of $5,000, which used a large portion of the budget.
