SHELBY OAKS: A Hodge-Podge of Tropes

SHELBY OAKS (Blu-ray)

2025 / 91 min

Neon/Decal Releasing

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Hey, at least Shelby Oaks isn’t another found footage film, which I feared it was going to be during the first ten minutes before settling into its story. Unfortunately, the shift to a traditional narrative doesn’t help that story much.

“Paranormal Paranoids” is a popular YouTube series featuring four hosts visiting places that are supposedly haunted. While investigating the abandoned ghost town of Shelby Oaks, three of the hosts are brutally murdered and the last, Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn) goes missing, presumably kidnapped by whoever killed her co-stars. Since it was all caught on camera, the incident becomes an unsolved mystery with worldwide attention.

12 years later, Riley’s older sister, Mia (Camille Sullivan), is being interviewed about the disappearance. She believes Riley is still alive, and after a surprise visit from a stranger (who kills himself on her porch), she discovers a tape in his hand. Instead of turning it over to police, Mia watches the tape, which seemingly confirms what she always suspected, much to the consternation of her semi-estranged husband. 

When DoorDash is late.

Mia’s marital woes have little to do with the plot - nor does the husband, for that matter - and is part of what sometimes makes the movie aimless and meandering. Compelled to look for Riley on her own, the search leads her to Shelby Oaks and the abandoned prison where the visitor at her door was once incarcerated, as well as an amusement park featured in Riley’s show. Further muddying the works are incidents from the sisters’ childhoods (depicted through flashbacks), when some kind of monster lurked outside their bedroom window.

These elements are tied together at the end, but writer-director Chris Stuckmann struggles to successfully combine supernatural and psychological horror, often resorting the cheap jump-scares over methodically building dread. Truth be told, Riley’s disappearance and Mia’s investigation aren't all that interesting to begin with, partially because we aren’t really invested in these characters, but mainly because - despite a couple of effective scenes - the story is mostly a hodge-podge of tropes we’ve seen before.

The film does come to a gruesome and somewhat creepy climax, punctuated by decent special effects. But it’s too little, too late. While Shelby Oaks is occasionally atmospheric and boasts a good lead performance by Sullivan, it's narratively convoluted and ultimately forgettable. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

MAKING OF SHELBY OAKS - A multi-chapter doc with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By writer-director Chris Stuckmann.

“PARANORMAL PARANOIDS” - Four ‘episodes’ of the faux documentary series depicted in the film.

“THE FINAL TAPE” - Video footage used in the film.

“CRIME SCENE” GALLERY” - A few gory stills.

TRAILERS & TV SPOTS