We dive deep into the 2024 indie horror film Shelby Oaks, directed by YouTube film critic turned filmmaker Chris Stuckmann. We break down the movie’s found footage style, unsettling atmosphere, horror influences, and whether the transition from YouTube creator to Hollywood director actually works. Along the way, we debate the film’s ending, its cult mythology, the rise of YouTubers in filmmaking, and why the first 20 minutes completely hooked us.
In this episode of the Never Seen It Podcast, we review and analyze Shelby Oaks — the highly anticipated indie horror movie directed by Chris Stuckmann and produced with support from Mike Flanagan.
We discuss how a former YouTube movie reviewer successfully crowdfunded one of the biggest horror Kickstarter campaigns ever, eventually landing backing from Neon. From there, we unpack whether Shelby Oaks lives up to the hype and how it compares to modern horror films like Talk to Me, The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and Barbarian.
We spend a lot of time dissecting the movie’s strongest element: its opening found footage/documentary-style horror sequences. We debate whether the film should have committed fully to the mockumentary format, how the tonal shift affects immersion, and why the atmosphere initially feels so effective before evolving into a more traditional horror movie structure.
Throughout the discussion, we also break down:
We also go off on some hilarious tangents about streaming disasters, horror movie tropes, YouTube culture, movie budgets, practical effects, and why watching horror movies on your phone might be a crime against cinema.
If you’re into indie horror movies, found footage films, psychological horror, horror analysis podcasts, or conversations about the future of filmmaking in the YouTube era, this episode is for you.