Jay Rohr
Shelby Oaks seems like it could be the most interesting scary movie this Halloween season. It isn’t, but it could have been. This collection of clichés courtesy of a YouTube critic turned writer-director has a load of potential it puts to very little use. Yet, Shelby Oaks milks enough malevolence from its mismanaged premise to pass the time.
Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn) is a YouTuber with a popular paranormal web series. While investigating the ghost town Shelby Oaks, she and her fellow supernatural sleuths vanish. Twelve years later, Riley’s sister Mia (Camille Sullivan) refuses to give up searching for her lost sibling. When a fresh clue conveniently shows up on her doorstep the puzzle begins falling into place. Mia is then off in a flash to follow every lead regardless of what sinister revelations as well as supernatural encounters afflict her.
Part of the problem with Shelby Oaks is how it conveys this narrative. The movie begins as a blend of found footage combined with a pseudo-documentary before shifting into a straightforward fictional film. One could argue there’s an attempt to say something about the subgenre, or perhaps an attempt to bypass the weaknesses often seen in it by utilizing a hybrid style. However, the found footage portions are hacky from the start, while the pseudo-documentary angle has been done better by films such as Butterfly Kisses (2018) or Savageland (2015).
As such, Shelby Oaks opens with three takes on a trite premise. Carrying on, most of the movie’s dialogue feels like listening to an audiobook. This is somewhat forgivable during the found footage and faux documentary segments, especially thanks to Michael Beach (Saw X) giving a solid performance as an unnerved detective, but the story is almost entirely expositional monologues. There are next to zero interpersonal interactions just info dumps.
The cliché plot then tries to weave a mystery full of twists that add very little to the overall scares. Shelby Oaks either presents something predictable as a shocking revelation it isn’t, or has characters make idiotic choices to compel the contrived narrative forward. All this leads to a major twist towards the end which I suppose could arguably explain some of the more moronic actions taken. However, it also undermines a great deal of the narrative logic, making all the sinister schemes needlessly overcomplicated.
The film is the first full-length feature from Chris Stuckmann. He began as a YouTube critic and success in that field apparently justified giving him the reigns of a major motion picture. Here, the writer-director displays potential for visuals while sowing little confidence in his narrative decisions.
Shelby Oaks contains some instances of admirable imagery. Certain portions are sinister treasures when they can be seen. This is a horror movie that mistakes darkness for stygian stylization. Though the film does stumble into moments where it works, the view is typically a murky mess of shadows that do little except make things hard to see. The result is a few fingers of shiver worthy imagery in a mostly empty pint glass.
Oddly enough, the film has an excellent atmospheric quality. There is a definite mood throughout Shelby Oaks. This often helps seed tension during the creeping approach of obvious jump scares. Cinematography sometimes combines with the right ambient sounds as well as music to heighten what are supposed to be scary sections. The prison portion in particular is a fine example of when everything works in the film’s favor. Aspects of the abandoned town, such as the decaying amusement park, also shine in a sinister way.
Camille Sullivan (Shoresy) is another strength. She wonderfully conveys someone sharpened by grief into a razor ready to cut to the core. Occasionally that means cutting helping hands like her husband’s, played by Brendan Sexton III (Don’t Breathe 2). It’s a shame he exists mainly as a plot cog for her to dump information at then turn as needed to keep things rolling forward. His performance doesn’t hurt the movie, but the part could have been played by a mannequin given how much the script requires of the role.
Keith David (American Fiction) makes a fabulous cameo as Morton Jacobson, a burnt-out prison warden. His part is basically lore-giver, but this iconic performer elevates the moment as only he could. Still, it would have been nice to see the scene play out less as a monologue, and more of an interaction like Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack shared in 1408 (2007), or even Brian Cox and Naomi Watts in The Ring (2002).
The point is that Shelby Oaks seems pressed for time. It’s always trying to expedite moments it could steep in. On occasion, writer-director Chris Stuckmann lets an instance play out. Again, the prison springs to mind. But more often the movie maintains a steady pace by sacrificing organic interactions. The one upside, though, is that the film never loses steam. It glides along at a modest pace until the conclusion.
All in all, Shelby Oaks is a narratively simple story that doesn’t throw anything unexpected at the audience. This allows folks to turn off their brains, absorb the malevolent atmosphere, and enjoy a certain degree of sinister storytelling. The attempts to employ a variety of techniques — found footage, pseudo-documentary, etc. — give a bit of novelty, but ultimately don’t add much to the movie. Consequently, though it might have been better, the film could be far worse. Shelby Oaks essentially runs right down the middle, neither a masterpiece nor a failure.
I always say it’s better to watch something fresh rather than revisit the same old same old for the thousandth time. As such, horror fans looking for something new will be entertained enough by Shelby Oaks. So should anyone looking for a fright flick this Halloween. It may not be the scary sensation ads are claiming, but Shelby Oaks will satisfy those spooky cravings that make your teeth itch.
