I’ve been looking forward to seeing Shelby Oaks, I heard it was a good horror. The evolution of the movie was interesting.
Shelby Oaks stars Sarah Durn, Camille Sullivan, Anthony Baldasare, Eric Francis Melaragni, Brendan Sexton III, and Keith David. Chris Stuckmann directs and writes alongside Sam Liz.
The Story
The story of Shelby Oaks isn’t all that original:
A woman’s obsessive search for her missing sister leads her into a terrifying mystery at the hands of an unknown evil.
However, as with all these kinds of things, it’s the execution, not the story.
The first act is ‘found footage’ of the disappearance of Riley Brennan (Durn). She is a paranormal investigator, and she and her team disappear. Well, her team turn up dead, but Riley is missing.
Her sister, Mia (Sullivan), becomes the focus of a documentary concerning her missing sister. During an interview, a man turns up at the front door and proceeds to shoot himself in the head in front of Mia.
The man is holding a digital tape which has Shelby Oaks written on it. Mia watches the new footage and realises her sister is out there, somewhere. The second act then makes the conscience decision to become a movie, and not found footage.
The Cast
Most of the cast of Shelby Oaks are new to me. We start with Riley, talking to the camera, and terrified. It’s the last footage of her alive, before she goes missing. It’s not the last we see of her, and she does a great job.
The main focus is Mia, played by Sullivan. Again, she does a great job of carrying the movie. Sadly, she is given dumb things to do. She finds a clue about a deserted jail, so she heads off, in the middle of the night, with nothing but a torch and a plucky spirit.
Basically, Shelby Oaks makes the main characters stupid, so the plot can happen. It’s the same thing with most horror movies; normal people wouldn’t go to a deserted jail in the middle of the night alone.
Direction
As I said, the story of how Shelby Oaks came to be is interesting. Struckman, the director, is best known as a movie reviewer on YouTube. Personally, I can’t say I’ve heard of him, because I read my own reviews, so why would I read anyone else’s reviews? Why have a burger when you can have a steak?
I will say, though, the direction is pretty good. I mean, there are moments where it’s not, but overall, I was impressed with the camera work, the acting, and the storytelling. However, you can tell it’s his first movie.
There’s a scene where Keith David gives a monologue in connection with the story. David is a great actor, and the monologue is good. The sad thing is, there are cutaways to Mia, and it kills the mood a little.
Think about the greatest monologue of all time: Quint and the USS Indianapolis. The focus of that scene is Quint and Robert Shaw’s incredible delivery. Yes, there are reactions from Brody and Hooper, but it’s all on Quint.
The scene in Shelby Oaks, with David, the scene is far from the same as Jaws. OK, that’s a little unfair to compare the two, but it shows the difference between a good director and a great one.
Overall
I recently reviewed Strange Harvest, another found footage movie, and I liked it a lot. Shelby Oaks is all in the same ballpark; however, it changes from a found footage into a ‘movie’, just after the opening credits, which are about 16 minutes in.
The found footage and the documentary footage are all really good. When it becomes a movie, it takes a different turn, but it isn’t terrible. However, it does switch back to found footage towards the end, again, an odd move.
As you know, I watch a lot of horror, and a lot of it is just filler. The reviews for Shelby Oaks have been very mixed, but honestly, I thought it was pretty good; far from perfect, but overall, it was solid.
I’m giving the movie a solid 4 out of 5 stars. This is the same score I gave Strange Harvest, and if I had to choose, I would prefer Strange Harvest, because it sticks to the documentary style.
Shelby Oaks is worth checking out, though; you can find it on digital now.
