Shelby Oaks Review: Chris Stuckman’s Horror Debut Is Bold, Flawed, and Weirdly Fascinating

Shelby Oaks Review: When you hear “Chris Stuckman made a movie,” your curiosity instantly spikes. The guy’s been reviewing films for years, and now he’s finally on the other side of the camera. Shelby Oaks isn’t just another indie horror flick; it’s the dream project of a YouTube critic-turned-director. And that alone made me root for it before I even pressed play.

So, I grabbed a coffee, dimmed the lights, and dove in.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Detail	Information
Movie Title	Shelby Oaks
Director	Chris Stuckman
Genre	Horror / Mystery / Found Footage
Runtime	1h 31m
Release Year	2025
Main Cast	Sarah Durn, Mason Heidger, Joe Quinn
Language	English
Country	United States

The Premise Of Shelby Oaks

The film follows Mia, played by Camille Sullivan, who is searching for her missing sister Riley, once a YouTuber investigating the paranormal with her group, The Paranormal Paranoids. Riley disappeared back in 2008, and twelve years later, her sister is determined to uncover the truth.

It starts off as found footage from Riley’s channel, then shifts into a traditionally shot narrative. That transition actually surprised me; this wasn’t some grainy, student film-looking horror. The cinematography is clean, the lighting is atmospheric, and you can tell Neon gave Chris the budget to make his vision real.

For a YouTuber’s first theatrical movie, it looks shockingly good. But the question is, does it feel good?

The Good Stuff In Shelby Oaks

Let’s start with what really worked for me.
Camille Sullivan as Mia is solid. The entire movie hangs on her shoulders, and she sells both fear and desperation convincingly. The film’s tone is moody and eerie, and when it leans into “less is more,” it really shines.

There are moments when something moves in the shadows, or you barely catch a figure out of the corner of your eye, and that subtle tension works perfectly. You can see that Stuckman understands what makes horror effective. The score deserves a shoutout too; it’s unsettling in the best way, never overbearing, and helps the film breathe.

Where It Falls Apart

Shelby Oaks is filled with cool ideas, but it never quite sticks the landing.

Some choices just pulled me out of the story. There’s one scene where blood splashes across Mia’s face, and it stays there literally all day. She calls the cops, moves around town, has full conversations… still with dried blood like a badge of trauma. It’s the kind of detail that might seem small, but it kills the realism fast.

Then there’s the pacing. For a movie that’s only about 90 minutes, it feels oddly slow. Not slow-burning, just sluggish. Some scenes exist just to exist—like a photo album moment that’s so on-the-nose it almost feels like a PowerPoint recap of “what’s been happening.”

And don’t even get me started on the “why is she going to creepy places alone?” logic. Horror thrives on tension, not convenience. When the main character keeps making decisions that no rational person would, it starts to feel forced instead of frightening.

Found Footage Meets YouTube Nostalgia

Stuckman clearly wanted this movie to be a love letter to the old YouTube era, complete with fake channels, viral tie-ins, and grainy “paranormal” uploads. It’s a neat idea, but it never quite takes off.

The movie would’ve crushed if it dropped in 2009, right in the Paranormal Activity boom. But now? The nostalgia doesn’t hit hard enough to carry the story. Some “fake news broadcast” scenes even look like YouTube sketches rather than actual TV coverage, and that really breaks the immersion.

A Filmmaker Learning on the Job

I’ll give credit where it’s due: Chris Stuckman’s jump from critic to filmmaker is no small feat. You can feel the passion. You can feel how much this project meant to him.

But passion alone doesn’t fix script issues. The dialogue, at times, feels stiff or overly expositional. The structure wobbles between found footage and cinematic realism, never fully committing to either. And that indecision gives the whole movie a bit of an identity crisis.

Still, there’s a ton of potential here. Chris clearly knows how to direct, the visuals, the framing, and the tone all land. It’s the writing that holds him back. If his next film is written by someone else (or co-written with a seasoned screenwriter), I think we’d be having a very different conversation.

Also Read: Netflix’s Good News Review: The Funniest Hijack Thriller You Never Saw Coming

Final Thoughts on Shelby Oaks

Shelby Oaks is one of those movies that makes you proud of what it represents more than what it achieves. It’s inspiring to see someone from YouTube make it to the big screen. But the film itself? It’s fine. Not terrible, not amazing, just fine.

There are flashes of brilliance buried under uneven writing and questionable logic. Still, it’s worth watching for the novelty of seeing Stuckman’s first big swing as a filmmaker.

So yeah, Shelby Oaks didn’t scare me as much as it made me hopeful, for Chris, and for all the creators dreaming of turning their own YouTube channels into something bigger.

Good & Bad

Verdict Of Shelby Oaks

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5)
Worth Watching? Once, especially if you’re curious about Chris Stuckman’s filmmaking journey.
It’s not a disaster, but it’s not a knockout either. It’s a lesson in ambition, one that shows promise, even if the execution wobbles.