Waupaca in the movies

WAUPACA – “This is a quiet town and I want to keep it that way!” said Waupaca Chief of Police Howard Dixon as he investigated a possible murder at Waupaca High School. It appeared the victim might have been strangled and then hung in a bathroom stall to make it look like a suicide.
That is the instigating scene that sets the plot for the 2007 psychological thriller “Aberration” that was filmed in the city of Waupaca. It was directed by Douglas Elford-Argent and written by Wendy Elford-Argent. It was originally titled, “Afterthought.”
The film has an Internet Movie Database rating of 2.7 and can be checked out through any library in Waupaca County via InfoSoup, the inter-library loan system.
The main character is Christy Dawson, a teenage girl that has a paranormal skill to communicate with the dead. She has visions of a small boy whose eyes are blacked out. This character is played by a young Max Hauser from Iola who later studied at UW-Oshkosh.
“From age six [2000] to about 2014, I was a regular actor in the Midwest. I would miss about 120 days of school a year traveling to Minneapolis and Chicago from Iola to act in various films, commercials, plays—as as long as I had good grades!” wrote Hauser in an email to the Waupaca County Post.

Hauser continued his film career and last year he debuted as a director. His documentary, “Back on Track: Rebuilding the Waupaca Depot,” follows the story of Mike Kirk, a train enthusiast and history buff, restored the long-abandoned train depot that is located on 525 Oak St.
“The director was married to a woman from Waupaca, so when they wrote the movie they decided to shoot it there. It was a pretty big production for the city and used a lot of locations like the school and expo center,” wrote Hauser.
Watching “Aberration” is worth it for the local scenes. The film opens with the Waupaca River at dusk. The lockers and hallways in Waupaca High School are recognizable to anyone that went to school there.
The ice rink at the Expo Center gets a lot of screen time during the shooting of the hockey scenes. Look past the actors and look for the signs of local businesses such as Culver’s and Brian Smith Accounting. The Zamboni is sponsored by Noffke Lumber and Waupaca Mobil. In the movie the Comets are renamed as the Ice Dogs but there is Comet signage in the background, such as the scoreboard. It is a film Waupaca hockey fans will enjoy.
There are shots of Main Street and the Danes Hall back when it used to be antique store. There is one shot with a Waupaca Bowl event flyer taped on the wall.
When the dead body is found at the high school, school is cancelled and local first responders are on the scene. There a recognizable names of Waupaca firefighters on the backs of their fire-proof jackets.
It is the ultimate sleepover film for Waupaca High School students. There is a creepy scene where the hallways of the high school turn to shadows. There is a scene where Dawson visits the Shearer/Christy House, the restored landmark home that features Queen Anne architecture. She meets a friend of her father, a professor who happens to be an expert is parapsychology. He tells next to the crackling fireplace that she has a gift and she can visualize and interact with ghosts. He said her abilities with the spirits will escalate.
When a hockey player is murdered and another attacked, Dawson solves the mystery by digging into the archives the Waupaca County Post. In a September 24, 1998 issue of the newspaper, she finds a clue to the identity of the boy with the blacked-out eyes and who might be responsible for the murders. The film’s final scene closes with dinner at Simpson’s Restaurant.