Royal Purple

Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Nou Thao

Most people who spend any length of time in Whitewater are bound to hear about the town's dark and mysterious past. The rest of the world, however, knows little about the town's haunting stories . . . until now.

"The Witches of Whitewater" is a film being made based on parts of Whitewater's history. As shown by the trailer on youtube.com, the film centers on a book the witches of The Morris Pratt Institute wrote before the school burned down. It shows a young female being warned that everyone who has come in contact with the book has died.

According to youtube.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCWLed98QFM) the movie is being directed by Marty Martin, founder of IMAGEN Films. Imdb.com lists the trademarks of Martin's cinematography style as always using camera movement and extreme color correction and cutting his films up non-linearly. He was a contestant on the reality TV show "On The Lot" and wrote, produced and directed the 2005 film "Got Milk? The Movie."

Rumors like the university formerly being a school for the occult and the book that has caused everyone who read it to die are topics that are said to be covered in the movie. It also ties in the fact that none of the town's documents from before the witch school burned down survived the fire.

According to weird-wisconsin.com, some of the most fascinating rumors about Whitewater and its darker aspects regard the secret literature locked in the university's library. Supposedly, the contents of a certain book are so dangerous that four different people killed themselves after reading it, and others went mad. Because of this, the library now keeps this powerful book locked up, and its contents remain unknown.

There have been more than 3,000 views to the trailer on youtube.com. A Facebook group has been created titled "They Made a Movie About Whitewater . . . And its Based on a True Story!!" According to IMAGEN Films, "The Witches of Whitewater" is actually in pre-production, meaning it will be shot almost entirely on location in Wisconsin.

Senior David Davis recalls stories he has heard about the town.

"There are many stories about the water tower in Starin Park being a site for witches in the past," Davis said. "The most interesting one though, is the Morris Pratt Institute. I really found it interesting that there was an actual witch college here. I am excited to go see it, and hopefully a whole bunch more people are too."

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