Review | Shelby Oaks (2025)

“A mix of The Blair Witch Project, Barbarian, The Omen and others, Shelby Oaks is a neat, if unmemorable chiller for Halloween.”

Shelby Oaks is the feature directorial debut of Chris Stuckmann. It stars Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Keith David, Sarah Durn, Robin Bartlett, and Michael Beach. Struckmann also produced and wrote the film. This is a continuation of an online marketing campaign featuring a series of found-footage videos. These videos are about a fictional paranormal investigative team named the Paranormal Paranoids. Using this as a baseline for the film’s events, Struckmann has crafted a neat little 90-minute chiller. It will get some attention as we head towards Halloween this week. However, can the film become a must-watch horror flick we revisit every year from this point on? Or is it simply a mixture of horror that won’t be remembered too long after it ends?

PREMISE

A woman’s desperate search for her long-lost sister falls into obsession. She realises that the imaginary demon from their childhood may have been real.

THOUGHTS

Ok, here’s the problem. The film mixes elements of The Blair Witch Project, Hereditary, Barbarian, The Omen and other movies. It forms a screenplay that, despite a few jump scares, isn’t scary. What scares there are during the film are telegraphed well in advance. This leaves the audience waiting for the obvious to happen. When it does, it doesn’t come as a shock. That being said, the film does a good job of mixing found footage, mockumentary, and horror into a neat chiller. It will keep the audience entertained without becoming too memorable. Despite some spirited performances and some nasty moments, it leaves us unfulfilled as the end credits roll.

CAMILLE SULLIVAN

The cast all perform their roles well. Including a pair of neat cameos from the legendary Michael Beach and Keith David, the cast manages to tell the tale to the best of what they have been given. Camille Sullivan as Mia Brennan-Walker, Riley’s older sister, who is searching for her, is front and centre throughout. The actress easily conveys the terror that appears on screen. She turns into an investigator after her sister disappears. It is her sheer determination that we applaud during proceedings.

Sadly, the script has her getting into regular horror tropes that we know are ludicrous. Why would she investigate an abandoned and derelict prison in the middle of the night, with only a flashlight in her possession? Why would she investigate a forest before entering a run-down house with a creepy old lady in residence? And who in their right mind would go into a cellar in a house she has just discovered?

Even though these turn out to be important plot points, we can’t help but scratch our heads at how ludicrous they are. Your sister has gone missing years before, your investigation brings you to a dirty, mould-ridden home with a filthy old woman inside, and alarm bells don’t ring? And why do it in the middle of the night? Camille Sullivan does her best with what material she has to work with, but even she can’t salvage the film from becoming a ludicrous knock-off of other horror movies at times.

WRITING AND DIRECTION

Chris Stuckmann does manage to prove he is a decent director in his own right. The way he paces the film, sets up what’s to come, and the few real frights the film contains are superbly executed. The look of the film is also a great start to a feature film career. Making the film a mixture of found footage, mockumentary and horror movie actually makes the film better than it deserves to be. Surprisingly, this approach actually holds the film together, making it a chiller that, despite the lack of any real scares, doesn’t outstay its welcome and holds the audience’s attention. Struckmann shows he has a chance at a brilliant directorial career with what he accomplishes here.

It is his script that drags the film down. By mixing other, better horror films into the script, he brings us something that is, sadly, predictable and what we’ve seen countless times before. Despite being superbly directed, the film comes across as just above the bargain-basement fare we see on streaming. And that is a shame, as there is a lot to like here. While being nowhere near the poor quality of the movies we used to find in the bargain bin everywhere, it doesn’t deserve its place alongside top-quality horror. With some originality, the film could have been a brilliant horror movie. Instead, it comes across as a homage to better movies that have preceded it.

VERDICT

A mix of The Blair Witch Project, Barbarian, The Omen and others, Shelby Oaks is a neat, if unmemorable chiller for Halloween. Despite spirited performances, some great throwbacks to what’s gone before, and being a neat concoction of different film genres, the film doesn’t reach its potential. It slips into the ‘could have been’ box instead of the ‘must-see’ box. It could have been something that we would revisit every Halloween, or watch when it is shown on TV. The film also could have been a must-grab title when it hits digital streaming and the disc formats. Instead, it lumbers into a curious oddity that we will watch if we feel like it, or if we’ve got nothing better to watch.

When the mystery is finally revealed and resolved, we find a brief moment of peace before the inevitable end. The film’s ending is in a throwaway piece of dialogue partway through. Hear this line of dialogue, and you find yourself sitting there awaiting it. It is this predictability that is a significant flaw in the film. Without it, we could have been surprised by the finale. Instead, we reach the end credits with a feeling of ” I knew that was going to happen.” Instead of being blown away by what we have just seen, we leave feeling empty. Shelby Oaks is decent enough to be worth your time. Just don’t expect to be blown away, scared, or to witness some originality.

Shelby Oaks is in cinemas from tomorrow, courtesy of Altitude.

 

 

 

 

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