STORYLINE: 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. (IMDb)

     There is always a need to find new and creative ways to tell stories, especially within the horror genre.    In 1980,Cannibal Holocaust conceived of the concept of the found footage film.  It wasn’t until The Blair Witch Project (1999) that the style of filmmaking truly got utilized.  That same film was the first to use the internet as a marketing tool. With its release in 2009, Paranormal Activity put found footage into the mainstream.  In 2014, Unfriended, told its story over Skype.   The 2025 release. Shelby Oaks, is the latest horror film to bring a different aspect of storytelling to audiences, as it conveys it’s plot

    In all fairness the new way of storytelling  isn’t so much a new way of story telling, as much as it is giving the found footage styke an update.  The film inserts segments of footage into its story.  It combines footage from missing digital tapes, news reels, and a YouTube series that is part of the film’s story.  As the film progresses, moments of shaky cam are mixed in as well.  

   This mix is an attempt to create unique jump scares, while telling an original story.  First, the story of a missing sibling, and the quest to find them is not a unique one.  That was the exact premise of the third Blair Witch film. Second, while there are a few Juno scares scattered through our Shelby Oaks, they are far and few between.  

    What could have been a found footage film for the YouTube generation ended up being a run of the mill, mediocre horror feature. 

    Until next I will see you at the movies!