Shelby Oaks

Just stay with the review. Bad enough you have empty reviews on the channel, Now the guy is making empty movie. Hopefully this is the first and the last time.

Start with long production, mundane and cliche piling up and up. The director supposed to be a horror movie fan but how he brought this movie is so weak, there is nothing horror about the movie itself.

There is no vision, as far how the the directing goes I can tell that the director is trying hard but has an unbelievably no experience whatsoever. The movie relies heavily on jump scares, generic as it may be. There is nothing different, positive wise.

Looking forward for him to "Review" the movie.

Great debut for Chris Stuckmann. It was an amazing movie experience from a first time writer director. His love for movie making is quite transparent in his piece. I'm reminded of the first time I watched Duel or Reservoir Dogs, being riveted and hooked from start to finish. The acting was flawless, the sound design was gripping and visually it was gorgeous with a special nod to the lighting department.

Very much looking forward from Chris Stuckmann's other projects that will now, surely, have much bigger budget to put to the big screen those stories he has been working on for years. Glad I got to shake the hand of a great movie lover like me that now many will get to love his movies as well.

This review is following a screening from Fantasia Festival and I realize that this is a first feature film and Chris seems like a nice guy but this was amateur hour.

I'll start with the positives, the cinematography was excellent and the lead actress was for the most part pretty credible. This film also had a promising prologue, although mostly riffing on Blair witch projects premise. Finally Keith David classed the joint up in a small role.

On the negative side, the relationship with the husband and lead was beyond poorly written, with a poorly acted argument sticking out in my memory. I was stunned when I was advised the husband is a working actor with many credits to his name.

The worst sin is that it's a horror film that just isn't scary, relying on cheap jumpscares and poor cgi dogs. The third act and ending also leave much to be desired where the audience was audibly laughing at what I would think were serious moments. The abysmal ending left me ambivalent rather than shocked as I imagine Chris intended. The biggest ruse is that this has been picked up for distribution, I can't see an average audience unfamiliar with Chris' YouTube career connecting with this film.

I don't care for Chris Stuckman's YouTube presence or for most of those influencer folks because rarely do they set their subjective bias aside when talking about movies, but I was immediately intrigued by his feature film debut because Mike Flanagan is an EP and the indie circuit buzz was exciting. Having finally seen it, it's not an impressive film.

The first half is thoroughly captivating as we're pulled into a bizarre mystery that defies reason, but the second half is just a hodgepodge of horror cliches and missteps. It's worth a look for hardcore horror fans, but otherwise, Shelby Oaks isn't a must-see in any regard.

I know it is actually meant to be found footage ... but then again, if this was a found footage movie, it would not use real cameras and switch back and forth between formats ... that said, having someone like Mike Flanigan standing behind (or in front of) your movie is quite the achievement and badge of honor I'd say.

This really drives home quite a few points to say the least. And it also has quite a few twists - before the movie started we were told not to give away anything ... even without that I would not have done it anyway. I don't like when people think it's ok to do that and spoil other peoples fun .... or enjoyment ... or just plain suspense they might have ... well had! So there is a bit of a Blair Witch feeling to this, but I would say it is a sort of update ... not just doing one style ... but making it more of a mystery ... I can say I saw the ending coming ... the very last twist was quite see through ... sometimes you have to throw some things out ... be it believes or whatever else comes in handy ... or convenient to further the story and plot ... you'll understand ... really well done! Shame the director couldn't be at the Festival (he had a cold - like the rest of his family ... and he did the sane thing ... not coming infecting others) ... would have liked to pick his brain on some stuff ... still really well done and check it when it comes out.