Neon has another scary tale for audiences that promises to get under the skin of viewers in new ways with Shelby Oaks. Directed by Chris Struckmann, the film follows a woman's desperate search for her long-lost sister, whose disappearance might be linked to an imaginary demon from their childhood.
Shelby Oaks director Chris Struckmann spoke with The Direct's Russ Milheim on the red carpet for his film at Fantastic Fest 2025, where he talked about how this horror story will really get under the skin of audiences.
Struckmann revealed that his goal from the beginning was “to tell a film that I felt was creepy or sort of unnerving,” focusing on those “creepy vibes that have always actually made me feel fear in horror.
Chris Struckmann is also a well-known film critic, so how does he handle the reception of his own movie? "It's fair game," he told The Direct, adding that if "you make something, you put it out there, people are gonna have an opinion on it."
However, he ultimately "made this film because I want to inspire other hopeful filmmakers like me."
Shelby Oaks will be released in theaters on October 24, 2025. More quotes and the full video interviews are available below.
Another incredible film shown at Fantastic Fest 2025 was Universal's Black Phone 2, which turns Ethan Hawke's serial killer into a new-age Freddy Krueger.
Chris Struckmann on How He Handles Criticism
"Look, It's Fair Game."
- The Direct: "As someone who comes from reviewing movies and whatnot, how deep into the reviews and reactions to your own movie are you getting? How do you handle that? How do you take that in as a reviewer yourself?"
Chris Struckmann: I mean, look, it's fair game. Like, if I made couches and sold couches online, people would be like, Oh, this couch is great. This guy didn't like this couch. It's just part of the thing. You make something, you put it out there, people are gonna have an opinion on it. So far, so good. As far as currently, it seems like the majority are enjoying the film, which is great.
But also, you know, I made this film because I want to inspire other hopeful filmmakers like me, who can see someone who's like a YouTuber from Ohio with very little to his name, who's able to get this done with the help of so many amazing backers. And the goal is to spread the love and the inspiration right back to people who've inspired me for so long.
How Shelby Oaks Will Get Under Audiences' Skin In New Ways
The Goal Was to "Tell a Film That I Felt Was Creepy or Sort of Unnerving."
- The Direct: "In finding terror in this story, can you tease how this movie is going to get underneath the audience's skin?"
Chris Struckmann: That was kind of the goal from the beginning, was to tell a film that I felt was creepy or sort of unnerving. You know, the types of horror movies that have always done that for me are films like 'Lake Mungo' and 'Noroi: The Curse', both of which are mock docs. Both of them are very, very strange and creepy like that.
And I think that there is something about eerie, creepy vibes that have always actually made me feel fear in horror. I'm not always scared by some things that are more common in horror, but specifically movies that feel like they're getting under your skin. And for me, I just wanted it to feel like something that was personal to our hero, Mia, in the movie. The search for her sister.
As a young kid, I didn't see my sister for many, many years because of the way I was raised, and I was ostracized from her and didn't know exactly where she even lived. And so that sort of personal element of taking that part of my life and trying to put it into a story that also had a genre element, hopefully it pays off in that way, of making it feel emotional and personal, because usually those are the types of stories that scare me, the ones that feel like there's actually something personal about it
Camille Sullivan: I've used a lot of—the locations were so amazing, like, the environments were so legitimately scary, that I just tried to sort of, if I could, like, when we shot in the prison, I just walked around by myself in the dark. It was like, Okay, this is pretty scary, yeah.
Sarah Dunn: Yeah, and I think, to piggyback on that, I think the horror in 'Shelby Oaks' is so rooted in character, and there are so many, just creepy people that are in this world that are horrifying. So like, Norma, and there's horror within mankind, the horror within ourselves. We're all horror movies.
Watch the full conversations with the cast and director of Shelby Oaks at Fantastic Fest here:
At Fantastic Fest 2025, The Direct also spoke with the director of Sisu: Road to Revenge about how the upcoming action sequel elevates the stakes.
