The highly-anticipated directorial debut of a renowned YouTuber is now just days away and it’s already drawing comparisons to some of the biggest horror films in recent memory.
Shelby Oaks, penned and directed by internet film critic Chris Stuckmann, was funded through a Kickstarter campaign that exceeded expectations, raising over $1m for the budding filmmaker.
The plot centres around a group of ghost-hunters who stumble upon secrets best left undiscovered while searching for a missing family member.
The star-studded cast features Camille Sullivan (Normal), Sarah Durn (Where the Crawdads Sing), Brendan Sexton III (Don’t Breathe 2) and Michael Beach (The Perfect Couple), reports the Manchester Evening News.
After its successful crowd-funding campaign, the film piqued the interest of Longlegs studio NEON, who acquired it and boosted Stuckmann’s budget by an undisclosed sum to reshoot certain scenes and increase the gore, as reported by IndieWire.
Acclaimed horror director Mike Flanagan (Midnight Mass) also joined the project as an executive producer.
The final cut of the film has secured a UK release date and will be shown in cinemas from October 29 – perfectly timed for Halloween.
The film’s synopsis on Kickstarter reveals: “Shot as a traditional feature, but with some elements of found footage, Shelby Oaks is a horror film about missing paranormal investigators (the paranormal paranoids), the dark legacy they uncovered, and the far-reaching effects their investigation has as Mia searches for her sister Riley, the lead paranormal investigator, 12 years later.
“As Mia uncovers new and disturbing leads related to Riley’s disappearance, she uncovers evidence of a hidden supernatural evil dating all the way back to her and Riley’s childhood.”
Initial reactions to the picture have been overwhelmingly positive, with Talking Terror calling it the “Blair Witch Project meets Hereditary,” whilst Collider branded it a “horrific nightmare.”
On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently holds an impressive pre-release critics’ rating of 84 per cent based on 38 reviews, with one Dread Central critic writing: “Shelby Oaks may not necessarily do anything new, but it’s still the perfect Halloween movie that’ll have you jumping and cowering in your seat.”