Shelby Oaks

I've been following Chris Stuckmann on YouTube ever since I saw his explanation video of 'Enemy' over ten years ago. I haven't watched his channel in a few years since he decided to change things up, but I've followed the progress of 'Shelby Oaks' since its inception back in 2021. I finally got to see it today and it was - quite a letdown, I'm sad to say.

Back in 2014 Stuckmann did a video titled 'The Problem with Horror Movies Today' and a large segment of that video was explaining why jump scares are so terrible and such a cheap gimmick. A direct quote from that video was, "The jump scare is the cheapest tactic used in horror films today." I tend to agree. So I had really hoped that Stuckmann would make a point of avoiding them all together in his debut film. Sadly, he did not. There aren't too many of them but they are in there and they are not well done. He even uses one during a piece of found footage, which is a major no-no.

The film is terribly clunky. It starts as a mockumentary and then suddenly it's not. The story has no focus and darts all over the place with terrible (CGI? - they looked CGI at least) dogs guiding the film. And the ending sequence was bizarre and didn't work for me at all. It felt like he was trying to cram ten films into one.

It's low budget so the acting is very dodgy in a lot of cases. Thankfully the lead actress Camille Sullivan is decent. She does her best to carry the film and keep it watchable.

This one didn't work though. It's never scary or interesting. The mystery doesn't captivate and there are a lot of choices that are quite cringe inducing. It's a debut film so there's plenty of time for him to learn and grow is the good news. 3/10.

I went to see Shelby Oaks on 10/24/25, which was the first day of its theatrical run. I was alone at my screening.

I went because I love horror. The movie's premise reads like something you'd read for any random horror movie on the Tubi app: a woman goes missing while she investigates the paranormal, and her sister tries to find her. It's an extremely basic, cliched, un-original premise for a horror. But I was fine with it because, again, I like horror (I even enjoy those Tubi original horror flicks even!)

But in the end, I hated this movie

There are so many issues that I can rattle off -- the first, which might be most conspicious, is that the lead actress is way too old for the role; she looks more like a distressed mother than a sister. She and her missing sister Riley look nothing alike. They do not pass as sisters

In addition - the movie has an awkward construction. It starts off in a documentary fashion, as if it were a found-footage film. Then when the main character Mia goes out to look for the missing sister, the documentary/found-footage perspective goes away entirely. This jump in presentation, from found-footage to conventional, is simply weird and puzzling; and I'm not sure what the point is. The movie could have easily been made as one or the other. It could've been told as a complete found-footage or a conventional movie.

Some of the plot details don't work. The girl had been missing for 12 years, and in spite of all the police work and publicity, nobody else could spot the details that Mia does when she watches her sister's old videos ... the character Mia has a husband who serves no purpose in the movie (infact, I actually think they should have scrapped his character entirely to give the sense that Mia had nobody else but her sister) ... when Mia goes out into the woods to look for her sister, she bizarrely goes out by herself. What happened to the documentary crew? That Mia is alone means that she wanders about in silence, which becomes a drag. Having someone to talk to might've made these scenes a bit more lively. I found myself yawning and getting restless during that part ... the movie's ending is unsatisfying

The only positive is that some scenes are visually well-done, and there's even one really creepy scene involving a photo album. But they're not enough to make up for the film's many shortcomings

3.5/10.

Do you like horror movie tropes? Do you like jump scares? Do you like Blair Witch Project style jumpy camera work? Did I mention tropes?

If you can think of a horror movie trope, it's in here. Strung together with a threadbare plot they just keep coming.

I'd say wait for it to hit streaming, invite your friends, and host a MST3K style party.

Now before I begin, I want to say I enjoyed Chris Stuckmann's critic videos and works in the past. Having seen his reviews and talks about his upbringings in the vile Jehovah Witnesses cult was interesting. He seems like a chill person. Now for his first debut feature film, there are some good aspects, yet also not so great aspects.

Starters, the atmosphere and presentation is pretty good. With the tones of supernatural, mystery, found footage style and blended with paranoia themes, it helps add layers of tension within the setting and concept. Alongside with some solid special effects, production designs and camera work, there are some genuinely good moments of creepy sequences, atmospheres within the setting, and the colors too. Stuckmann's direction is decent, as he was able to capture the essence of the themes and balances pretty well. Alright admittedly, there are some direction chops that didn't land very well.

The performances are pretty solid. Camille Sullivan was really good, alongside with the rest of the cast members too. Unfortunately, the writing and execution causes the movie to prevent it from being good. First of all, the story and concept is good and the writing does offer some unique and fun horror ideas. But the issues is that it feels like Stuckmann struggles to blend the writing perfectly with what he wants to present. Because of that, the writing demonstrates a lot of horror cliches that are predictable and moments that feel messy. Which makes the characters of the movie hard to believe in nor engage.

Alongside with some annoying jump scares, the dialogue does feel wonky. As if the dialogue feels like something of a student film project does. On the effects, there are some good animal and blood effects, including sound designs. And the pacing is pretty solid.

At the end, I'm happy Chris Stuckmann is able to finally make his movie. He has talent for sure and I do like to see where he leads next. But, he really needs to get a better writer.

I don't care for Chris Stuckman's YouTube presence or for most of those influencer folks because rarely do they set their subjective bias aside when talking about movies, but I was immediately intrigued by his feature film debut because Mike Flanagan is an EP and the indie circuit buzz was exciting. Having finally seen it, it's not an impressive film.

The first half is thoroughly captivating as we're pulled into a bizarre mystery that defies reason, but the second half is just a hodgepodge of horror cliches and missteps. It's worth a look for hardcore horror fans, but otherwise, Shelby Oaks isn't a must-see in any regard.