While the 2025 movie schedule has featured big-budget blockbuster films throughout the summer, fall isn't too far off with at least one suitably spooky movie set for October. Shelby Oaks, hailing from writer/director/producer Chris Stuckmann, will debut as Neon's upcoming horror flick starring Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Michael Beach, and Keith David, among others. Stuckmann spoke with CinemaBlend about the finished product of the film after getting the budget for reshoots and adding practical effects for the blood and gore. And it certainly shows in the trailer!
Executive produced by Mike Flanagan (who directed, wrote, and produced The Life of Chuck for Neon), Shelby Oaks follows the story of Mia (Camille Sullivan), who becomes convinced that her sister wasn't murdered after all despite evidence seeming to point to the contrary. When clues begin to drop that something more sinister is at work... well, the trailer (seen above) reveals that Mia is in for a rough ride with all the blood. Originally funded by a Kickstarter campaign that totaled nearly $1.4 million, Neon picked up the film and gave Chris Stuckmann the extra money to reshoot and add gruesome shots that originally weren't possible.
I spoke with Stuckmann at San Diego Comic-Con about going back to add to what had been a finished product of Shelby Oaks, and he immediately described Neon as "the most incredible partners who picked up a movie that was shot on a shoestring budget." He went on:
You say $1.4 [million] but we didn't have $1.4 to work with. A lot of people took little bits and pieces and then we got to make the movie. But when you're shooting any movie for that amount of money, it's tough. And [Neon] saw value in the film and basically said, 'Hey, can we read your original script? And they did, and they saw moments in my script that were not on the screen, and they were mostly things that were stunt-oriented or relating to blood and gore, things that needed to be practical, things that needed to be created, that I learned while making this movie take massive amounts of time.
Just like with cuts being made with book-to-screen adaptations, cuts from a finished script sometimes have to happen during the process of shooting a movie. Shelby Oaks was first viewed by an audience before the reshoots back in July 2024 at Fantasia Fest in Montreal, not too long after the production company found horror success with the exceptionally creepy Longlegs. Upcoming audiences will get to see the finished product with the increased budget, which IndieWire reported was roughly $1 million. Stuckmann continued:
When you're shooting an indie movie and half of your day goes to a practical effect, you've basically destroyed your entire schedule. They were kind enough to say, 'Hey, why don't you have a few more extra dollars to go add some of these really cool kind of genre, bloody, gory moments you've always wanted.' And it was truly a dream to be able to go back and add some of those things that were in my head but were never able to be realized until we got that extra boost.
Shelby Oaks will release in theaters on Friday, October 3, which is toward the end of a year that has already delivered some popular horror films. Fortunately, the stars aligned for Chris Stuckmann to film the movie that was in the script.
Of course, not all productions will go the extra mile for practical effects when computer-generated effects are an option. Some actors have opened up about preferring practical effects, including Murderbot's Alexander Skårsgard despite challenges. Chris Stuckmann went on to share why he prefers doing things practically:
I mean, if you can do it in camera, do it in camera. The problem, like I was saying, is really just the amount of time it takes. That's why I think you see a lot of CG movies with CG blood and CG gore, because to actually execute it on set [takes time], and then you have a cleanup too. You're wasting 20-30 minutes just cleaning everything up. It's fun, but it does take a lot of time.
Shelby Oaks was the first feature that Chris Stuckmann has directed, with the added weight of writing and producing it. So, he only had good things to say about getting to go back, reshoot, and add the practical effects that can really sell horror. He concluded:
That's why I have such a respect for movies that have practical effects and utilize them, because of just how long it takes to execute that properly and not make it look cheesy. Because you're doing it for real, and you're committing to what you're shooting. You're like, 'This is it. What we are shooting right now, this is it, so it better work.' [Neon] gave us all the resources we needed.
You can find Shelby Oaks in theaters starting on Friday, October 3. The timing makes it one of the first horror movies to release theatrically in October, so be sure to check it out if you want some scares to kick off the spookiest month of the year.
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