Shelby Oaks is a horror film that follows a woman investigating the disappearance of her sister who was a YouTuber that covered paranormal events and locations. I had the privilege of being at the world premiere of the film at Fantasia Film Festival on July 20th and I was overjoyed to see the director YouTuber Chris Stuckmann’s reaction to the crowd, the anticipation and the reception. As someone who has followed him for nearabout 15 years on YouTube as he reviewed movies, I was inherently invested in the film regardless of how it turned out. Although this article is not about the film itself as much, I do give a quick review at the end if you’d like to know my thoughts.
This quick write up is more about exposing you to the journey of the film being made and how many of the qualities evident in the real-world journey are mirrored in the film itself. Due to the movie not being in wide release in theaters until sometime in 2025, I will not be revealing any plot points and events of the film outside of the general premise.
The journey for the film being made starts long long before even the idea of the movie being formed. Chris Stuckmann grew up in a strict Jehovah’s Witness household where watching horror movies was taboo to begin with. Many of his interests were looked down upon by his family and his community, putting him in a very tough spot if he ever wanted to pursue his true passion – movies. Despite spending much of his youth making home movies with those around him, it was always with the understanding that it clashed with the environment he lived in. When he decided that movies were too much of a passion to bend to the restrictions of his upbringing, he accepted being cut off from his family and community to pursue that passion. He became one of the most popular film reviewers on YouTube in the early days of the site, garnering an audience that today sits at 2 million subscribers. If you’re interested in learning more about his journey, he recounts it in detail here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpMjgarN7VQ.
Having spent more than a decade reviewing films and the occasional DIY short film for his YouTube channel, he decided that he wanted to embark on a journey of making his own feature-length film in the style of early YouTubers doing vlogs following the paranormal. What at first was a personal project funded by his and his wife’s savings of 15-20 thousand dollars quickly was supplemented by almost 1.5 million dollars of contributions by his fans on Kickstarter, a fact so impressive that Mike Flanagan (Haunting of Hill House) pointed out at the premiere that his attempt to get Kickstarter help for his first foray into film yielded only 20 thousand dollars.
The film took 5 years to materialize but it has ended up being picked up by distributor Neon (Parasite) and will have a wide release in 2025. The film mirrors this story of determination and following what drives you in a different way, but there are parallels nonetheless.
The main character of the film named Mia played brilliantly by Camille Sullivan (Hunter Hunter) is determined to find her sister who disappeared 12 years prior despite the police, her husband and anyone else she talks to having given up any hope of finding her, dead or alive. She tirelessly toils to find respite not just for herself, but her sister too.
Stuckmann faced a lot of skepticism along with his own self-doubt in his journey to getting his movie made with the advent of COVID right in the middle of the process and a rapidly tightening budget in post-production.
Through Mia’s story, Stuckmann shows that if you really believe in something, even if others don’t believe in you and you yourself suffer self-doubt, don’t give up on yourself and one way or another, you will find some closure down the road.
Much like I won’t give away how the movie goes, we will have to wait sometime before knowing the reception to the film next year and how successful it ends up being. I was admittedly a little wary of my affinity for the director and how that might colour my expectation for the film, but I am happy to report that Shelby Oaks is a great debut. It is anchored by a fantastic lead performance and great handle on pacing that keeps you engaged throughout its 100 minute runtime. Although you should not go in expecting to have your pants scared off (hopefully that’s not an experience only I have), the constant unnerving atmosphere makes it so you’re never comfortable from start to end. A shout out to a couple of other great elements in the film: the director of photography for a great use of mixed video formats and types throughout the movie; the sound design and score for always accentuating the visuals perfectly; and the writing for not just a great plot, but also finding moments of great humour sporadically to cut the tension, playing cheekily with horror tropes while leaning into them.
I can truly say after seeing it myself that I hope for nothing but the best for both Chris Stuckmann in his career as a filmmaker that is sure to have an upward trajectory from here. I look forward to others getting on the bandwagon when it’s in theaters next year!
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