What if Michael Myers became a killer because of Silver Shamrock? That’s the twisted idea behind Project Shamrock: The Secret Origins of Michael Myers Exposed, a new unofficial Halloween fan film prequel from Hobo with a Shotgun director Jason Eisener.
Watch as it connects the original 1978 slasher with Halloween III: Season of the Witch in what is being called one of the best things to come out of this spooky season (when it comes to horror shorts, mine’s still Remain Calm though).
Presented as a recently discovered industrial film reel from Halloween 1960, the short explores a top-secret Silver Shamrock Corporation program called Project Shamrock. The company is testing Halloween mask prototypes on factory employees’ children. One of its subjects is a three-year-old boy named Michael Myers. The setup imagines a connection between the child who would become the Shape and the sinister company behind the killer masks in Halloween III.
The story unfolds through a small-town janitor, played by Dave Brunt, who is brought in for questioning about his time at the Silver Shamrock factory. Brunt has a bit of history with Eisener, having played the original Hobo in the fake trailer for Hobo with a Shotgun that helped launch the filmmaker’s career.
Eisener wrote, directed, and edited the short, shooting it over two days in Dartmouth and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The production uses both 8mm and 16mm film to make the footage feel like a forgotten piece of corporate propaganda. That format is a natural fit for Silver Shamrock, whose sinister operation in Halloween III hid a deadly plan behind the familiar trappings of Halloween masks and television advertising.
The short also reaches beyond the two movies in its title card connections, including nods to the Cult of Thorn and later entries such as Halloween 5: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. It’s an ambitious fan-made attempt to stitch together pieces of a franchise that has never had the tidiest continuity.
The supporting crew includes producer Jen Yamato (hi, Jen!), cinematographer and co-producer Andy Appelle, production designer and special-effects supervisor Katie McQueston, composer Andrew Gordon Macpherson, and practical-effects artist Steven Kostanski, who created a prosthetic head for the film.
Project Shamrock is a not-for-profit fan film, not an official addition to the franchise. But for anyone who has wondered how Halloween III might connect to Michael Myers, Eisener has turned a long-running fan theory into a creepy little piece of lost-film fiction. The short is available to watch online.
