Thankfully, we’ve managed to crack the mystery and we’re pleased to offer you your first look at the world of the indie comedy horror Lumberjack Man which, it seems, has also added Michael Madsen to its cast.
Read on after the break for a detailed photo guide to the package’s contents.
Noting a return address from a Dr. Peter Shirtcliff at a “Wellness Center” in Austin, TX (an address that Google Maps seems to verify belongs to an actual hospital), we removed brown mailing paper to reveal a file box marked “CLASSIFIED” on the top and as containing “Jeppson Files” on the side. Inside, a note on Dr. Shirtcliff’s letterhead reads as follows:
The website on the letterhead, shirtcliffwellness.org, appears to be an actual clinic’s site, complete with a working phone number (and a working answering machine on the other end), but you might recognize Shircliff’s photograph:
So what film is Michael Madsen in coming up that might be launching a viral? Nothing for which he has yet been officially announced.
Deeper amongst the box’s contents were two manilla envelopes of “evidence”. One contains a two-sided newspaper clipping:
Then, at the bottom of the box, was a truly bizarre item: a package of “J.T.’s Jeppson’s Authentic Lumberjack Flapjack Batter”. That company itself has a realistically constructed viral site at jtjeppson.com.
How’d we finally crack it? Although the ownership information for both of those viral sites has been hidden, public data shows that both were registered on the same day last March. Shifting through a list of every site registered that day, we found the not-yet-active www.lumberjackmanmovie.com. Although that title seems to match details in the newspaper clipping, details on the film itself are few on beyond a casting call that came online last year. It just happens to have been shot late last year in Austin, Texas by a company called Madisonian Films.
What does it all mean? We’ll have to wait for another message from the good Dr. Shirtcliff to be sure.
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