After more than a decade dissecting films on YouTube, Chris Stuckmann finally steps behind the camera – and the results are as gloriously unsettling as you might have imagined (our full review HERE). His debut feature, Shelby Oaks, is a found-footage horror that nods to many a familiar trope while boldly, assuredly, and triumphantly twisting them into something unpredictably, uncomfortably, and satisfyingly unique. Shot in Ohio and produced by Paper Street Pictures, the film unfolds like a fever dream of lost VHS tapes and buried memories, where documentary realism collides head-on with nightmare logic.
The story begins with the mysterious disappearance, twelve years ago, of a group of paranormal investigators known as the “Paranormal Paranoids.” Camille Sullivan (Hunter Hunter, The Unseen) plays Mia Brennan, drawn into a sinister search for her sister Riley – the Paranoids’ lead investigator – after a deeply unsettling visit to her doorstep. Long-buried fears resurface as Mia plunges down a rabbit hole of increasingly troublesome revelations, confronting the dark truth behind her sister’s disappearance and the fate of the ill-fated Paranoids.
With Mike Flanagan as executive producer, Stuckmann channels the gut-wrenching authenticity of Lake Mungo and the creeping paranoia of Ringu, while Sullivan’s anxiety-riddled performance beats at the film’s disturbingly authentic real heart. She navigates a dizzying array of formats Stuckmann dared himself to tackle – shaky handheld camcorders, polished widescreen shots, and everything in between – with uncanny ease. Every flicker of fear feels earned, giving the audience an emotional anchor that films of this ilk need to truly unsettle, the way only the finest found-footage horrors can.
Ahead of the film’s Friday release, CinemaChords’ Howard Gorman sat down with Sullivan to discuss what drew her to such a psychologically demanding role, the challenge of maintaining authenticity in terror across constantly morphing footage styles, and what it’s like working with a first-time filmmaker who knows horror down to its bones.
