by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $14.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Michael Beach, Sarah Durn, Robin Bartlett, Keith David
Intro:
… an undeniably effective spookshow.
It’s always an odd moment when people known for doing one thing switch career trajectories. Take Jordan Peele, known as one half of comedy duo Key & Peele, a very funny bloke. Nek minute, he’s one of the most in demand genre film directors of all time, producing amazing work like Get Out and Nope.
The latest example is one Chris Stuckmann, an affable Youtube movie critic who has now shaken things up and become writer/director on a brand spanking new horror flick, Shelby Oaks. Now, while we would never slag off critics becoming creatives, this was a surprising switch. After all, just because you bang on about movies doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be any good at making them. However, Shelby Oaks, while imperfect, is actually impressive and may cause a whole new audience to get Stuckmannized.
Shelby Oaks is the story of a missing young woman, Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn), a paranormal Youtuber (righto, Chris) who vanished under very strange, downright spooky, circumstances. Desperate to find Riley is her older sister, Mia (Camille Sullivan), who thinks she’s uncovered a clue that will lead to her long missing sibling. But is something else going on, and just who is that dark figure seen in the back of photos? And what’s with all the weird dogs?
The phrase that comes to mind when describing Shelby Oaks is hodge-podge. It’s a sometimes-overcrowded collection of influences and styles. The film begins like a found footage/mock documentary, becomes a more traditional horror film and then switches around a few more times for good measure. It’s not just stylistic choices either, the script is an amiable amalgamation of obvious influences like The Blair Witch Project, Lake Mungo and Hereditary with a directorial style that loosely apes some of Shyamalan’s better efforts. However, what Shelby Oaks lacks in originality, it makes up for in effectiveness, because despite the familiar ground being trodden here, this is an undeniably effective spookshow.
Performances vary, but Camille Sullivan is a capable, driven lead who anchors the narrative, and Keith David (in a small but pivotal role) is always a welcome slice of charming gravitas. Stuckmann is clearly a much better director than he is a writer, but that doesn’t stop several sequences being genuinely creepy. There’s one set piece that involves Mia visiting an old lady in her mouldy home that is downright haunting and while some of the jump scares are a bit naff, there’s enough here to showcase Stuckmann as a promising director to watch.
Yes, the script is derivative and not all of the scares work (it’s very hard to make dogs terrifying) but horror is rarely about the intellect. It’s about triggering that primal fear and terror of the unknown, which Shelby Oaks does in crude but effective ways. A random bloke at the critic screening kept yelping in fear and then spent the end credits trying to convince everyone around him that he wasn’t scared at all, actually. That’s when you know the film has done its job and a Youtube content creator has successfully pivoted to being a director.
Maybe get a co-writer for the next one, though, eh Chris?
