With Neon’s hodgepodge horror, Chris Stuckmann dares his first attempt at spooky

Whether you want a job done right or just done at the momentDo it yourself. That is the fearless motto that unites feature film debutant Chris Stuckmann and his headstrong last girlfriend Mia (Camille Sullivan) in the convoluted mystery “Shelby Oaks”.

An ambitious horror exploration in the found-footage format that honors the genre but rarely tries to subvert it, this spooky crime thriller brings to light a new kind of unsolved case for Neon – fittingly, this film was picked up shortly after the viral “Longlegs” and is still a box office hit now in its second week. When four internet ghost hunters known as the Paranormal Paranoids encounter trouble in an abandoned town, three are found dead and the last (Sarah Durn) is never discovered.

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“Who kidnapped Riley Brennan?‘, says graffiti around Ohio 12 years later. It’s very Derry-like, and just one of many warm touches that make Stuckmann’s universe, cleverly but subtly designed by EP Mike Flanagan, seem more like a Stephen King film than a ‘Paranormal Activity’ sequel.

The police and the public may be useless here, but Mia isn’t giving up. She doesn’t know if she believes in ghosts; what she does know is that her sister isn’t a liar. A true-crime documentary picks up where the grainy footage from the victims’ cameras ends—exploring the investigation into the deaths from the perspective of a dogged relative operating outside a broken system. Something similar could be said of Stuckmann, who, as a history-making champion of the Kickstarter campaign (his combative feature raised more than $1.3 million online), pulled off a minor miracle by getting his film made this way. He himself is a YouTube talent known for complex video critiques and a deep love of genre. Using a story by himself and his wife, Samantha Elizabeth, Stuckmann makes his impressive but imperfect debut, bolstered by a built-in fanbase that already appreciates his filmmaking philosophy.

Murderers aren’t always given the chance to explain themselves, and directors are even less given that opportunity when a film review is online. Stuckmann has made a poetic career out of appreciating the magic of production, gracefully and methodically thinking about how a totality of factors influence what ends up on screen. Through his passionate YouTube channel, founded in the heyday of the internet that the opening of “Shelby Oaks” recalls, Stuckmann has spent years valiantly resisting cinematic shit-posting. Instead, he has repeatedly emphasized his love of all things film-related – and has rarely, if ever, made “bad” criticism of anyone – and his mosaic-like feature reflects that affection tenfold. Criticism be So when watching a film, it seems important and fair to say right at the outset that its existence is a good thing. As simple as a review can be at this early stage (most viewers won’t see “Shelby Oaks” until sometime next year), Chris Stuckman can actually make a movie and, all other things being equal, probably should make more movies. That’s even more true if he can manage to protect his admirably pure production pipeline from business-minded studios.

Now the difficult part.

As annoying in its logical gaps as it is frustrating in its stop-and-go progression, this confused debut effort knows what it wants to be (perhaps a drier, more cynical “Lake Mungo”?)—but it isn’t. The first twenty minutes are enormously promising, with Stuckmann writing dialogue for news anchors in a little meta-commentary that quietly mocks viral creators and asks if Riley’s disappearance wasn’t somehow just a joke. (Cheers to lonely girl, long may she vlog!) And yet, much like a marathon novice, the writer/director gets off to a stronger start than he can sustain. After a dazzling opening, there’s a dip in tension midway through the second act—somewhere between Mia and her husband (Brendan Sexton III) second or third argument about vigilantism and the baby they’re not having—and the tension never recovers.

Cops are rarely the answer to, well, everything, but it would do wonders if anyone actually helped Mia get a handle on her investigation. Sullivan alone doesn’t get nearly enough partners for most of the film (blink and you’ll miss Keith David), and Mia wastes tons of screen time just idling away. Shelby Oaks is the kind of movie that shows you montage after montage of old photos, dream journals and library documents — which Mia has supposedly spent more than a decade poring over — and then earnestly asks you to share in her surprise when she inexplicably starts piecing together the facts she already had as evidence.

The horror stories aren’t as compelling either, as Mia’s choices reveal her to be an inconsistent, if not downright dimwitted, heroine. The nightmarish scenes, whose genre references range from hixploitation to gothic romance, are almost masked by the stunning surroundings shot by cinematographer Andrew Scott Baird, who almost glosses over Mia’s lack of intellectual guidance. But what real person, pray tell, lets their sister disappear for more than an entire Chinese zodiac cycle, only to spontaneously visit an abandoned prison… with a nearly dead flashlight… in the middle of the night? The scene is pretty, but she comes across as an idiot.

It’s these obvious loose ends that degenerate “Shelby Oaks” into an unmotivated pursuit of an unremarkable character. The fault lies not with Sullivan (she does what she can!), but as Mia’s behavior makes less and less sense, her sister’s story becomes equally confusing. Comic interludes suggest that parts of the script are self-aware (yes, at least one character will admit that verbally saying the name “Paranormal Paranoids” is abhorrent), and yet there aren’t enough jokes throughout to qualify the film as a horror comedy. Add in a well-intentioned but poorly thought-out “Hereditary” inspiration that’s nothing but earnest, and the whole thing no longer works as a believable excuse for the love of comedy alone.

Still, it bears repeating: Stuckmann should be making movies. Shelby Oaks was obviously written by a critic with a near-legendary knowledge of the pop culture archives, and it was directed with a palpable confidence that could lead to better things. To return to the marathon metaphor, Stuckmann finishes his race only a little beaten up. He pulls off a beautiful final shot that, no matter what comes before it, is fun as hell and hints at what this young filmmaker will undoubtedly do best one day. Stuckmann is undoubtedly the smartest journalist-turned-producer in horror today, and will be even better when he leaves Shelby Oaks.

Grade B-

“Shelby Oaks,” a Neon release, premiered at Fantasia Fest 2024. It will hit theaters next year.

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