It’s officially the era of the YouTuber-turned-filmmaker in the horror genre, with RackaRacka bringing home some solid bacon, and now Chris Stuckmann — whose face you have seen on a billion thumbnails, provided you have even the slightest interest in film that the Google algorithm can sniff out — has entered the fray. He’s in a bit of a more precarious position than most creators, though: Stuckmann is a critic and, even though some of the best filmmakers have been critics (the Cahiers set, Peter Bogdonovich, and so on), there’s some pressure on him that wouldn’t be there for others.
Happily, it seems Shelby Oaks, his crowd-funded found footage feature debut, will be a pretty good time at the movies. The flick premiered at Fantasia last year, was blessed by Mike Flanagan (of all people), and was soon acquired by NEON, who contributed some extra cash for pick-ups after it hit the festival circuit. And now, you’ll finally get a chance to check it out. NEON dropped two trailers for Shelby Oaks earlier on Monday, so pick your poison.
Here’s the safe-for-work greenband version of the trailer:
And here’s the redband variation for all of you cool cats who don’t have to worry about the boss looking over your shoulder:
Here’s a synopsis for Shelby Oaks:
A woman’s desperate search for her long-lost sister, a famous YouTuber who investigated paranormal happenings, falls into obsession upon realizing that the imaginary demon from their childhood may have been real.
Shelby Oaks hits theaters on October 3. Regardless of whether it’s any good or not, it’s always dope when a critic decides to shut up and put up, so we’re rooting for Stuckmann on this one. You got that “Man in the Arena” shit going for you, Chris, and we salute you, dude.