What if Michael Myers was connected to the Silver Shamrock Corporation all along? That’s the idea behind Project Shamrock: The Secret Origins of Michael Myers Exposed, a new Halloween franchise fan film from Hobo with a Shotgun, Dark Side of the Ring, and Kids vs. Aliens director Jason Eisener. The short imagines a secret chapter in the Halloween mythology, bringing Michael Myers and Halloween III: Season of the Witch together in a way fans have been speculating about for years. Check it out in the embed above!
Project Shamrock Reimagines the Origins of Michael Myers
Written, directed, and edited by Eisener, Project Shamrock is set in the 1960s, before the events of John Carpenter’s Halloween. The story is presented as a recently uncovered industrial film reel containing disturbing evidence of a secret program run by the Silver Shamrock Corporation. That’s the company behind those seemingly innocent Halloween masks that play a horrifying role in the story of Halloween III. Eisener takes that premise in a new direction, imagining that the corporation’s experiments go back further than we ever knew.
The short follows a janitor, played by Dave Brunt, who is questioned about his time working at the Silver Shamrock factory. As his testimony unfolds, we learn about a top secret initiative called Project Shamrock and experiments involving children. One of the subjects was a young boy named Michael Myers.
Eisener doesn’t stop at connecting the two corners of the franchise, either. The short also incorporates references to Halloween 5 and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, bringing the Cult of Thorn into the mix.
Jason Eisener Gives Halloween a Vintage Horror Makeover
Fangoria reports that Eisener and his collaborators shot the short over two days in Dartmouth and Halifax, Nova Scotia, using 8mm and 16mm film to create the look of a vintage industrial production. Andy Appelle handled cinematography, while Andrew Gordon Macpherson provided the music and sound. Katie McQueston oversaw production design, props, wardrobe, and special effects supervision, and practical effects artist Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman, Deathstalker) contributed a prosthetic head.
Brunt, who plays the janitor in Project Shamrock, also has a connection to Eisener’s early work: he starred in the original Hobo with a Shotgun trailer that became part of the promotional campaign for Grindhouse. The film also features Mark Palermo, Johnny Purcell, Cher Hann, Ziggy Bell, Jovie Bell, Connor King, and Paul Doucette, among others.
Could Halloween III and Michael Myers Share a Universe?
The idea behind Project Shamrock is fun because Halloween III: Season of the Witch has always occupied an unusual place in the franchise. Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, the 1982 film tells a standalone story involving Silver Shamrock’s deadly Halloween masks, without featuring Michael Myers as its antagonist. That separation was intentional. The original plan for the Halloween series was to explore different Halloween-related horror stories as an anthology rather than return to Michael Myers in every installment. But after Season of the Witch failed to find the audience the studio wanted, Michael returned in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, and the franchise continued down the slasher path.
Over the decades, fans have come up with all sorts of theories about how the movies might fit together. Eisener’s short takes one of those possibilities and runs with it. What if Silver Shamrock’s experiments weren’t limited to the events of Season of the Witch? The short’s connections to the Cult of Thorn add another layer, nodding to the mythology introduced in the later Michael Myers sequels. Whether you find that mythology fascinating or convoluted, the idea of bringing it into Silver Shamrock’s world is an entertaining one.
Project Shamrock: The Secret Origins of Michael Myers Exposed is a not-for-profit fan film produced by Jen Yamato and Ian Matheson, with Appelle also serving as co-producer. You can watch it for free on YouTube and in the embed above.
Have you watched Jason Eisener’s Project Shamrock? What do you think of the idea of connecting Michael Myers to Silver Shamrock? Let us know in the comments!
