By MICHAEL GINGOLD

Starring Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III and Sarah Durn
Written and directed by Chris Stuckmann
Neon

There’s a long and great tradition of movie critics and journalists becoming filmmakers, ranging from Paul Schrader to Dario Argento. Now it’s the turn of Chris Stuckmann, who jumped into the then-nascent YouTube and won a huge following for his cinema-analysis channel. For his first feature project, he landed the highest Kickstarter total (close to $1.4 million) ever for a horror project. So it only makes sense that SHELBY OAKS, which world-premiered at the current Fantasia International Film Festival and opens theatrically next year, begins as a found-footage/mock-doc immersion into the Internet world.

The initial premise is familiar from THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (though Stuckmann cites LAKE MUNGO as a particular influence): Back in 2008, the four hosts of the PARANORMAL PARANOIDS on-line reality show vanished while investigating the ghost town of Shelby Oaks, Ohio. Stuckmann plunges us into a very convincing, lengthy montage incorporating cyber-coverage and reactions to the disappearances, which aroused concern in some and suspicions and hoax accusations from others. The bodies of three of the group are eventually found, but what happened to host Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn) remains a mystery. Twelve years later, her older sister Mia (Camille Sullivan) remains determined to uncover the truth, and Mia’s efforts are being covered on camera by documentarians Janet (Emily Bennett) and Elijah (Rob Grant III).

Adroitly mixing the latter duo’s footage with PARANORMAL PARANOIDS excerpts and those widely divergent web reactions, Stuckmann, cinematographer Andrew Scott Baird and editor Patrick Lawrence establish a convincing, intriguing reality with ominous overtones, getting us anxious to find out “Who took Riley Brennan?” (a ubiquitous graffiti slogan around Shelby Oaks). From the PARANOIDS show to the anonymous comments, it all feels authentic. So does Sullivan’s performance, as Mia channels her grief into a pursuit of answers and closure. Then a stranger shows up on her doorstep, and what happens next spins the situation in dangerous and frightening directions.

This visit results in a real seat-jumper of a jolt and Mia discovering more evidence that propels her toward the dark heart of Stuckmann’s narrative (he and his wife Samantha Elizabeth came up with the story). As the film continues, the director plays with the storytelling technique in unexpected ways, while also employing tried-and-true horror tropes suggesting that SHELBY OAKS is, in part, a homage to both classic and recent chillers he has celebrated in his prior career. Mia’s further research into the bad stuff in Shelby Oaks’ past leads her to visit a couple of its creepier abandoned sites, with Stuckmann taking full advantage of these made-for-a-horror-film locations near where he lives. One is the Ohio State Reformatory (where THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION also lensed), and the other is a disused amusement park, and the unwavering dedication that Sullivan invests into Mia helps us accept that she heads out to both of them in the middle of the night instead of waiting for daylight.

Indeed, Sullivan, who previously impressed in the forest survival-horror saga HUNTER HUNTER, gives SHELBY OAKS a convincing and compelling center. We’re willing to follow Mia anywhere as Stuckmann takes her on a downward spiral that may see her experiencing the same fate as her sister. Durn is able to make Riley a sympathetic presence–a lost soul worth reclaiming–in her limited, second-hand screen time, while Brendan Sexton III has a mostly functional role as Mia’s equally concerned and frustrated husband and more familiar faces Michael Beach and Keith David appear in brief supporting turns. Sullivan’s real “co-star” in SHELBY OAKS, however, is the doomy atmosphere Stuckmann elicits through both the accumulating detail in the found-footage material and the eerie visuals he and Baird conjure up as Mia gets closer to the town’s heart of darkness. As a first-time filmmaker, he has clearly poured his love for all things horror into this project, and it will be interesting to see what he comes up with for an encore.