Fantastic Fest 2025 – Chris Stuckmann spent years building a loyal fanbase on YouTube as a horror critic. Because of this, his feature debut, Shelby Oaks, is one of the buzziest films of spooky season. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the film was picked up by NEON for distribution. While Shelby Oaks ultimately misfires, it certainly shows promise for Stuckmann’s turn as a director.
Shelby Oaks combines a lot of subgenres, including true crime, found footage, and even occult horror. The film operates best when it sticks to the mockumentary and found footage style, blending in elements of true crime. The feature stars Camille Sullivan as Mia. She’s determined to find out what happened to her sister, Riley (Sarah Durn), a paranormal YouTube host. Riley went missing after she and her fellow co-hosts investigated the creepy and abandoned Shelby Oaks area in Ohio. The first half of the film features Mia in front of the camera a lot, allowing viewers to better understand the relationship she had with her sister and her determination to uncover what exactly happened to her. Stuckmann also incorporates shaky and grainy footage of Riley’s paranormal show, which took place during the early days of YouTube. Riley’s story unfolds through Mia’s interviews before the camera, old YouTube footage, and even early internet discussion boards. The film’s first half excels at using various footage to piece together a broader narrative and to build a captivating mystery.
Sullivan also gives a moving and heartfelt performance as Mia. She carries a lot of the film, though Durn, when we do see her through footage, is another highlight. Riley comes across both as curious and innocent. The film isn’t light on the scares, either. There’s one sequence when Mia watches a video of Riley’s last moments, before a stranger abducts her at Shelby Oaks. The video, which plays out like a snuff film, and Mia’s reaction to it, are utterly hair-raising. It’s one of the strongest moments in the film. We feel like we’re watching something we shouldn’t be watching.
While there’s a lot of good in Stuckmann’s first feature, it falters in the final act and veers too far off the established path. It’s like he couldn’t quite solve the mystery at the heart of that film, that being what happened to Riley at Shelby Oaks. Suddenly, the film shifts into occult horror territory. While there are some chilling scenes in the last act, it doesn’t really work with the narrative, and the movie suddenly goes off the rails. There are simply too many subgenres at play that don’t form a more cohesive whole.
While Shelby Oaks is flawed and bungles its last act, there’s a lot of promise here and some generally unsettling scenes. The fact Stuckman created this movie after a Kickstater campaign is a triumph for indie filmmaking. Shelby Oaks misfires by the time the credits roll, but it does show that Stuckmann has some talents as a filmmaker. Keep an eye on where he goes from here.
