THE STORY – Mia frantically searches for her sister Riley, after Riley ominously disappeared in the last taping of a show by a group of paranormal investigators called the Paranormal Paranoids. As Mia’s obsession grows, she begins to suspect that the imaginary demon from Riley’s childhood may be real.
THE CAST – Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Michael Beach, Robin Bartlett, Keith David, Charlie Talbert, Emily Bennett & Sarah Durn
THE TEAM – Chris Stuckmann (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 102 Minutes
The Fantasia Film Festival is no stranger to popular YouTube icons. Last year, the festival programmed the electrifying Canadian premiere of Danny & Michael Philippou’s “Talk to Me.” At the screening, audiences passionately hooted and hollered alongside the chilling jumpscares. After producing cinematic masterworks such as “Ronald McDonald EXTREME Muckbang” and “Sneaking into a Mr. Beast Video,” the Australian brothers deservingly took home the coveted audience award for best international feature. After an empowering debut at Fantasia, it was inevitable for the programming team to welcome other well-known influencers from the platform. Thus, during the opening weekend of operations, the festival curated two unique experiences. For the general public, Fantasia opened its doors for a free screening of Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou’s short film The Second. The screening followed with an in-depth lecture revolving around the principle of “one for us, one for them,” as the creative duo behind the famed YouTube channel Every Frame of Painting discussed their process in humorous detail.
Yet, the most exciting event from that same evening was the world premiere of Chris Stuckmann’s “Shelby Oaks.” Recently acquired by indie powerhouse distributor Neon, expectations on the ground were through the roof. For Stuckmann, “Shelby Oaks” is more than just a horror film. Exhumed from his own memories and experiences with religious extremism, his feature debut attempts to survey his past through squirmish horror allegories. Stuckmann originally founded a kickstarter campaign to acquire funds for the production. After multiple delays and pandemic procedures, “Shelby Oaks” determinedly screened on Saturday night with the unified efforts of its dedicated cast and crew. Regardless of the onslaught of less-than-desirable criticisms that followed the film’s premiere, Stuckmann’s achievement shouldn’t be undermined. To produce a singular independent horror feature nowadays is a scrutinous task, as corporate hullabaloo and budgetary anxieties permeate haunted film sets.
Coyly referencing the rapid-fire editing style of a Netflix true-crime series, “Shelby Oaks” opens with a mockumentary homage. As a direct source for the desired context, Stuckmann clearly sets the grounds for his feature’s universe. While the screenwriting at hand is undeniably heavy-handed, the information dump playfully toys with the mechanics of sensationalist horror archetypes with different forms of new media. Stuckmann, as a filmmaker and content creator indebted to the early days of the internet, enjoys his fair share of analog implementation. Through expositional dialogue, Stuckmann establishes his protagonist’s familiar trauma within the internet-centric introduction. There’s a personal connection with the design of the sequence, as the artificial archival images mix and mingle with his web-based backstory. Nostalgic page layouts and other references from YouTube’s golden age briefly appear in the hyper-active edit.
With “Shelby Oaks,” the well-intentioned inciting spark bluntly transports the spectator into a somewhat supernatural world of half-imagined dreams, nightmares, and unpredictable visions. More importantly, Stuckmann’s compassionate direction is emphasized by his courageous protagonist, Mia Brennan. Portraying the nauseating anxiety of Brennan’s tumultuous cycles of grief through subtle gazes and paranoid posture, Canadian actress Camille Sullivan amplifies her search for truth with an emotionally palpable performance.
As the film traverses through the rustic Ohioan forests, Stuckmann’s formulaic structure begins to disintegrate. Instead of chilling scares, the screenplay regretfully relies on plot conveniences and preposterous character exchanges for the sanctity of narrative progression. As the film dwindles along through Shawshank prisons and atmospheric merry-go-rounds, “Shelby Oaks” slowly lulls its viewer into a vague theological scare-fest. Evoking cultish imagery and other pedantic horror tropes, the film, unfortunately, relies on contrived iconography for emotional catharsis. While Stuckmann has a promising handle on the emotional vulnerability at the helm of Brennan’s tragic past, the trophy execution undercuts the psychological severity of her distress.
As an admirable genre attempt, Stuckmann’s passionate directorial voice brings home a few note-worthy scares and compelling ideas to the table. However, throughout its timeline, “Shelby Oaks” aimlessly intersects formulaic cliches and other predictable beats with non-existent punctuation. The conventionality at center stage deters the terror from within, as the quiet suburban lives of a broken family resolve with a resounding thud. While Stuckmann’s work and livelihood as a film critic certainly shines through with genre inspirations derived from titles such as “Lake Mungo,” his anticipated debut fails to enrapture its viewer through atmosphere and compelling screen direction. For the most part, viewers will likely leave the theater less than stuckmanised.
