LINDSEY ORY, Courier Staff Writer

WATERLOO - Waterloo native Adam Brooks is coming home this summer to film his first horror film, "The Season," which will rely on local actors.

Not to be confused with "The Final Season" - also being filmed in Iowa - "The Season" is centered around an Amish family.

Brooks, who grew up near an Amish family and now lives in Los Angeles, began production of "The Season" last year.

The movie was slated to be filmed last August, but things fell through, pushing back production.

Brooks and his crew will be filming outside scenes on an Eastern Iowa farm, still to be determined. Filming for the inside of the house will take place at 1509 Washington St. in Cedar Falls.

"My wife and I actually bought the house for my mother to live in, but the inside looks so much like the Amish home I was looking for, I had to use it," Brooks said. "After we're done filming, she'll move in."

The tamed-down horror flick follows the Wheeler family, who has been banished from its home in 1856 because of the town's disdain for its polygamous practices.

Socially shunned, the family moves to an isolated area. As the years progress, genetic defects nearly wipe out the Wheelers. To prevent the demise of the bloodline, family members begin to introduce outsiders by way of a lone gas station. Three groups fall prey to the Wheelers' potentially deadly antics one fateful day when they become lost.

The horror that follows isn't gratuitious gore, Brooks insists.

"It is along the lines of 'Saw' in the sense that the gore makes sense and contributes to the film."

To get this film off the ground, Brooks will hold casting calls at the University of Northern Iowa's Strayer-Wood Theater acting practice room from noon to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and June 17. The Strayer-Wood Theater is at Hudson Road and 27th Street.

There are potentially 14 roles, including lead and supporting actors.

"The actors in this film will be predominately Iowans," said Brooks. "I want to bring an opportunity to the people in my hometown I never had when I was growing up. We are only bringing five, six people with us from (Los Angeles). All other individuals involved will be local."

To check out the roles and the characters' lines and bios, go to www.theseasonthemovie.com.

Contact Lindsey Ory at (319) 291-1482 or lindsey.ory@wcfcourier.com.