Shelby Oaks

Shelby Oaks (2024)

58% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 90 reviews)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Chris Stuckmann

Starring: Camille Sullivan, Sarah Durn, Brendan Sexton III, Robin Bartlett, Michael Beach

From: NEON

I got Stuckmannized!

Clarification is needed concerning my opinion of Chris Stuckmann as a YouTube personality. I’ve never watched his videos regularly, although most YouTube movie review accounts are avoided by me. His early yelling and constant F-bomb phase of course wasn’t something I loved-thankfully, constant F-bombs were NOT a problem in Shelby Oaks-nor was his switch to a monotone style where he’s far more hesitant to criticize now that he’s making movies. My giving a nice rating is NOT out of a fanboy obligation. It is important to note now that the version in cinemas across the country is NOT the festival cut that played last year—there were some reshoots with the additional money they got outside of the Kickstarter fundraising a few years ago.

Going in, I only knew the premise “woman searches for her missing sister;” a trailer was never viewed by me. Turns out, Riley Brennan was part of a YouTube (write what you know, I suppose) paranormal investigative team, back early during the nascent days of the platform. The opening and conclusion are in a mockumentary format, and some found footage is seen; otherwise, it’s a traditional movie. Who or what are the threat to Riley and her sister Mia of course won’t be elaborated upon-I can say that the other YouTubers were found murdered but Riley has been missing for years.

People have noted that the movie seems derivative of certain movies made in the past 20 or so years-which ones, they won’t be spoiled either. The ingredients may be familiar—they are prepared and cooked into a tasty concoction, IMO. I dug the story for what it was instead of bemoaning certain plot points or that the focus was on Camille Sullivan’s Mia; thankfully, Sullivan delivered a solid performance. The two most famous faces in the cast (Michael Beach, Keith David) have rather small roles.

I liked the setting (rural Ohio, including the titular ghost town of Shelby Oaks), the music, some subtle moments from Stuckmann the director, the general polish, some atmospheric scenes and most importantly to me, the film NOT feeling like the elevated horror dreck which usually does not thrill me. There were some nice scares-yes, one was of the jump-scare variety but otherwise… this includes the ending that some have denounced. That isn’t protracted nor does the film have 4 acts nor does it not know when to conclude.

Clearly, I was happy that this felt like horror from the past instead of the modern variety filled w/ tropes that usually leave me cold. My opinion of Stuckmann the YouTube personality hasn’t changed; Stuckmann the filmmaker I am interested in. Whether he writes something else or is hired for a job, I’d be happy to give that a shot. As Jwoww (?!) made a found footage picture named Devon (released last year) and that by all accounts is dreadful, it’s a relief that Shelby Oaks worked for me.