Shelby Oaks [Blu-Ray]

Director: Chris Stuckmann

Cast: Sarah Durn, Camille Sullivan, Charlie Talbert

Release Date: January 6, 2026

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

A woman’s desperate search for her long-lost sister falls into obsession upon realizing that the imaginary demon from their childhood may have been real. Filmmaker Chris Stuckmann generated unprecedented excitement around SHELBY OAKS, launching the most-funded Kickstarter campaign ever for a horror film.

‘Shelby Oaks’ tells the haunting tale of a woman still searching for answers revolving around the disappearance of her sister many years ago after she and the team of accompanying online ghost hunters dubbed “Paranormal Paranoids” vanished while filming only for the rest of the members to show up brutally killed, yet years later her sister remains mysteriously absent. After a stranger commits suicide at her door and a tape is found in his hand, it reveals more terrifying information about the curious events, leading the woman to head out to the source of the vanishing to seek a potential lead after all this time, but soon ends up finding more than she bargained for.

Written and directed by Chris Stuckmann from a story by Stuckmann & Samantha Elizabeth, Stuckmann makes his feature length directorial debut at the helm of ‘Shelby Oaks’ guiding along the tale with mixed results and hints of promise. The film’s cast includes Sarah Durn (Carry-On), Camille Sullivan (Hunter Hunter), Charlie Talbert (Megalopolis), Robin Bartlett (The Fabelmans), Michael Beach (TV’s Tulsa King), Emily Bennett (TV’s City on a Hill), Keith David (TV’s The Lowdown), Brendan Sexton III (Don’t Breathe 2) and Derek Mears (Alita: Battle Angel), with some offering better performances than others in their respective roles, yet still delivering adequately in most cases.

‘Shelby Oaks’ is an entertaining and at times relatively creepy film that shows repeated hints of promise and has some nice twisted turns and scenarios that will get your attention, but far too often fails to adequately follow through and deliver on those moments. It has a generic premise that could initially go either way and as it progresses even finds some clever ways to switch things up on the viewer until eventually unveiling the truth of the situation and what’s happened over the years but in a manner that will excite some and likely also disappoint others.

It builds a sense of dread and uncertainty and has some uneasy moments where the tension builds palpably, and it even has some rewarding results for a handful of those moments, yet it loses itself in the jumbled way things are developed and the inability to pick what type of horror film it wants to be; shifting from found footage, to mockumentary and then once again to a typical film all in the first fifteen minutes which quickly has the viewer confused as to what the film is trying to do. Some of the choices are logical such as the found footage elements which connect in a sufficient way within the tale, yet other elements like the mockumentary in process never click in any logical way or ever provide any semblance of a reason for existing and it can result in the promising areas of the film becoming hindered to some degree.

Overall, ‘Shelby Oaks’ is an enjoyable first outing for YouTuber turned filmmaker Chris Stuckmann that has some clever ideas and turns in store, as well as some splendidly eerie and unpleasant moments to offer, yet becomes lost in a jumbled story and the film’s indecision as to how it approaches the story, altering from multiple styles without much rhyme or reason as to why and it often detracts from the more powerful and memorable elements in its favor. It does come together into a decent film and it’s far from horrid, but too many confusing choices and alterations within keep it from ever reaching excellence. If you’re a fan of Chris Stuckmann’s work and reviews, or you tend to enjoy a somewhat clever and at times fairly different sort of horror movie then it couldn’t hurt to rent a copy and make up your own mind, but I would  encourage watching before purchasing because this one won’t quite do the trick for everyone.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Shelby Oaks’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio for the majority of the feature, with some video footage and documentary-like scenes utilizing different ratios. The video presentation looks pretty good as a whole and it delivers a generally clean, sharp and rewarding presentation throughout that does suffer from a few instances of banding and other minor issues in exceptionally dark moments, but for the most part holds up capably with rich detail, coloring and altering ratios to help differentiate between the variety of shooting styles utilized throughout. Overall, this is a pretty nice though occasionally flawed high definition presentation that fans and newcomers should be largely satisfied with.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack makes a nice addition and repeatedly complements the more eerie and unpleasant moments throughout while offering a clean, crisp and fairly immersive audio presentation that does its job well. It utilizes all five available channels in order to send some music, creepy effects and noises, plus other various elements and effects throughout the various speakers whenever appropriate, and never causing any simultaneously occurring dialogue or other audio elements to become distorted or negatively impacted along the way. Overall, this is a solid 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Shelby Oaks’ includes some entertaining extras. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Chris Stuckmann’, along with four episodes of ‘Paranormal Paranoids’ (running approximately 5-16 minutes each), plus ‘The Final Tape’ (approximately 13 minutes) and a ‘Crime Scene  Gallery’. Also included is the multi-part ‘The Making of Shelby Oaks’ which includes the Featurettes ‘From YouTuber to Director’ (5 minutes), ‘Shaping the Vision’ (4 minutes), ‘Shooting at the Brennan House’ (3 minutes), ‘Mapping the Unknown’ (4 minutes), ‘Trust Under Pressure’ (5 minutes) and ‘The Final Frames’ (5 minutes). The film’s ‘Trailer’ (2 minutes) and ‘3 TV Spots’ (approximately 90 seconds altogether) are also included, along with a ‘Hidden Extra’ (5 minutes) that consists of the full tape from the film showing the sisters as kids.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Shelby Oaks’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from NEON & Decal Releasing

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You can purchase ‘Shelby Oaks’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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