Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Chris Stuckmann
Starring: Camille Sullivan, Sarah Durn, Brendan Sexton III, Keith David, Michael Beach, Robin Bartlett
From Jean-Luc Godard to C. Robert Cargill, numerous film critics have made the transition from analysing movies to actually making them. Chris Stuckmann's Shelby Oaks is the first time a YouTube film reviewer has made such a switch, at least on this scale. In recent years we've seen YouTubers like Kogonada (Columbus), the Philippou brothers (Talk to Me) and Curry Barker (Milk & Serial) prove that they could fashion compelling feature length narratives rather than merely shorts designed to be watched on a phone on your work commute. But those filmmakers had already displayed an understanding of filmmaking in their online work, whereas Stuckmann's filmmaking experience to date hasn't gone too far beyond filming himself talking to camera in front of a wall of memorabilia. It's disappointing but perhaps no surprise then to find that Shelby Oaks falls far short of what's expected from a feature film. I suspect that were it not for Stuckmann's recognisable brand, this would have anonymously snuck onto VOD rather than being granted a relatively wide theatrical release.
Stuckmann follows the lead of one of the great critic-turned-filmmakers, Paul Schrader, in crafting a story of a young woman who disappears amid sinister circumstances. But unlike Schrader's Hardcore, there's little here to suggest that Stuckmann is influenced by John Ford's The Searchers. Like so many American YouTube film reviewers of his generation, Stuckmann's touchstones are predominantly of a far more recent vintage. The Blair Witch Project and subsequent found footage thrillers like Lake Mungo are clearly on Stuckmann's mind in the opening 15 minutes of his directorial debut. Footage compiled from TV news reports, YouTube clips and a true crime documentary tells the story of the disappearance of the four hosts of a paranormal YouTube show in the abandoned Ohio town of Shelby Oaks. The bodies of three are found, while a fourth, Riley (Sarah Durn), remains unaccounted for.
While being interviewed by a documentary crew several years later, Riley's sister Mia (Camille Sullivan) is subjected to a traumatic experience that leads to her coming into possession of an old camcorder tape labelled "Shelby Oaks." The tape's footage leads Mia to believe that Riley is still alive, and so she heads to Shelby Oaks in the hopes of finding her sister.
Shelby Oaks is the movie you receive when you order Silent Hill on Temu. That video game adaptation didn't live up to its premise either, but at least it looked good. Shelby Oaks' plot is not only derivative and uninspired, but it frequently makes little sense. The big question that hangs over all this is why it takes this video tape to convince Mia she should look for her sister in the town when she knew all along that it's where she was last seen? Surely she would have ventured to Shelby Oaks as soon as she learned of Riley's disappearance rather than waiting several years?
Such questions might be overlooked if Shelby Oaks had anything else going for it. But it's not scary or atmospheric, and the clunky storytelling means we're simply watching Mia stumble across one clue after another. As a fan of Hitchcock, Stuckmann should know that to create suspense the audience has to be made privy to information denied the protagonist. If we know the killer is behind door number three, we wince when the protagonist reaches for that door's handle. If we don't know what's behind the door we're simply waiting for a shock that probably won't be all that shocking because we've already anticipated it. This is a problem that occurs throughout Shelby Oaks, and it makes for a tiresome viewing experience.
Despite being given extra funds by US distributor Neon, and with Mike Flanagan coming onboard as executive producer, Shelby Oaks feels unfinished. There's practically no middle act here, with the movie spending half its running time establishing the setup and then jumping straight to the climax. There are great horror movies where a protagonist finds themselves in a creepy town (Messiah of Evil, In the Mouth of Madness and City of the Dead are some personal faves), but those movies spend time building up the atmosphere by exploring their location and introducing us to a variety of odd inhabitants. Mia simply arrives in Shelby Oaks and meets one other person before suddenly finding herself in the film's climax. Stuckmann creates no mood or atmosphere, and his jump scares are all too predictable. The movie has little in the way of real world logic, but unlike the dream logic nightmares of Argento and Fulci, there's no absurdism or surrealism to take its place.
The opening found footage segment papers over some of the filmmaking cracks, but once the film switches to a traditional format we can't help but compare it with regular horror movies, and it simply doesn't hold up. The dialogue is stilted and is mostly deployed to push the plot forward rather than to recreate how people actually speak. For example, when a stranger appears at Mia's door her first words are "Are you lost?" rather than simply greeting them with a "Hello" like an actual person.
Sullivan's performance is the most professional aspect of this venture (along with a brief cameo by the great Keith David), but even she appears confused in several scenes as to just what she's supposed to be conveying. Some minor roles appear to have been gifted to crowdfunders, notably the hosts of the news segments, leading to some of the most amateurish performances you'll see in a movie given this mainstream a release. The best thing I can say about Shelby Oaks is that it is at least short, with the final 20 minutes of its 140 minute runtime taken up by a roll call of its thousands of deluded financial backers.
Shelby Oaks is in UK/ROI cinemas from October 29th.
