Attendees of Austin’s Fantastic Fest loves welcoming bold genre swings and late-night horror discoveries. Shelby Oaks fits right in with the festival premiere of Chris Stuckmann’s directorial debut. Stuckmann starts with a small idea that grew into a real feature backed by Neon and supported by Mike Flanagan. In what began as a scrappy project with his wife, it picked-up steam through crowdfunding and arrived in Austin with the confidence of a film that knows what it can do.
The story follows a woman who refuses to stop searching for her sister after a paranormal video crew disappears. Everyone tells her to accept the loss. She keeps digging. That stubborn love gives the movie its pulse. Stuckmann has talked about being cut off from his own sister for many years due to his former religion. You can feel that ache. The scares land because the grief feels real.
Stuckmann blends mock documentary, found footage, and a classic narrative thread. On paper that sounds like a recipe for chaos. In practice it clicks. The early documentary passages play like a smart true crime binge that lays out ten years of backstory in a way that is actually fun to watch. The found footage is not a filter trick. Old cameras were used, so the images feel authentic. It also serves the plot. We are not just watching static shots. We are hunting for clues with the lead. That turns the audience into active participants.
Atmosphere does the heavy lifting. Real locations give the film texture, including an abandoned prison in Ohio that seems to exhale dust and regret. The sound design and patient camera work keep the tension humming. Stuckmann knows when to hold back. When the entity shows up, it lands. There is even a sly game where the presence hides in plain sight across several shots. Horror fans will be pausing and pointing at the screen like they just spotted a rare bird on a hike.
The cast keeps everything grounded. Camille Sullivan gives a very lived-in performance that carries the emotional weight without showboating, but also shows the precision of her talent at “stutter breathing,” which presents the audience with a level of authenticity of a character’s fear during a tense moment of horror. Sarah Durn appears mostly in found footage and makes the absence hurt, until we see her featured as part of the narrative. Robin Bartlett slides in with a quietly unsettling presence that raises the hair on your arms. Together they sell the reality of the hunt and keep the film steady when the strange turns legitimately scary.
Not every moment delivers with an effective level of fear. A few lines read like neat exposition rather than people conversing in meaningful dialogue. Overall, it feels like it walks along familiar roads, so a seasoned horror fan may be able to predict a beat or two. There is one reveal of the entity that sits between full mystery and full spectacle. Some will want more shadow. Others will likely want to see more monsters or hear more about it’s origins.
Final Verdict – 4 out of 5 Buckets of Popcorn 🍿🍿🍿🍿
Shelby Oaks is a moody and sincere indie that plays to its strengths. It is not trying to rewrite the genre, but it tells a focused ghost story with a beating heart, and it succeeds. The film looks and sounds better than its budget suggests, and it’s not at all wasted as the personal core gives it weight. As a first feature for director Chris Stuckmann, it is a clear win. As a Fantastic Fest watch, it is a perfect late-night pick with just enough dread to make you take a second look out of your bedroom window while you’re lying in bed at night.