By I’m old enough to remember when the original “found footage” movie The Blair Witch Project came out back in 1999. This was back when social media didn’t exist and a large part of the world was still using dial-up internet. There was a big media push at the time to some how convince people that the movie, and the found footage film it contained was real. While that seems laughable now (and was even laughable at the time) there were still those who believed it at first. Shelby Oaks takes this premise, sprinkles in a bit of movies like Paranormal Activity, adds a dash of The Omen, to present a film that generally works on all these fronts, but doesn’t master any of them.
The film begins with interview segments for a documentary around the disappearance of a YouTube star known for a group of young paranormal investigators called the “Paranormal Paranoids”. They rose to fame back when YouTube was just a small channel where people could make a name for themselves. Following the filming of an abandoned prison that had burned down in Shelby Oaks the team disappears.
Shortly after their disappearance all the investigators are found dead except Riley Brennan (Sarah Dunn). One of the two cameras are found that appears to show the last moments of their lives, and someone (or something) has kidnapped Riley. This is where the show takes off 12 years later as her sister Mia (Camille Sullivan) continues to look for answers. The interview takes a turn as a man shows up on Mia’s doorstep with a tape that could provide the clues to her missing sister’s disappearance.
The film then transitions from its found footage premise to more of a traditional horror film. Mia decides that it is up to her to travel to the town of Shelby Oaks, to retrace her sisters’ footsteps, and unravel the mystery that has alluded police all this time.
Shelby Oaks doesn’t tread new ground in any of the classic horror tropes that it focuses on. It’s filled with imagery, jump scares, and violence that tends to be the mainstay of horror films these days. Whether it’s the shots of demons reflecting in a mirror, a sudden blast of cold air in the prison, or the demon dogs constantly stalking our protagonist, each of these we have seen before countless times in other films. That’s not to say there isn’t a genuine sense of fear and dread in several of these moments though. Camille Sullivan does an excellent job leading the film. She is portrayed on screen far more than any of the other actors and does the film justice as its leading lady.
Directed by Chris Stuckmann, known as one of the most popular film critics on YouTube, attempted to bring something new to the horror genre. He definitely plays homage to the place he started by focusing on the beginning of YouTube and how much it’s changed in the 12 years that the film focuses on. While not necessarily a new or unique take, it does show the power that social media has on folks and how much it has grown during the 12 year span the film takes.
Shelby Oaks is a great way to spend the spooky season in the theaters. It won’t win any best picture awards, and likely won’t be everyone’s favorite scary movie. However, it does make for an entertaining evening, and provides enough jump scares, and intriguing moments to keep folks guessing until the end.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
