Shelby Oaks (2024) (Belgium/USA)

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YouTube ghost hunter Riley Brennan disappeared in 2008, leaving behind an incredibly disturbing last bit of footage. She vanished along with her team of paranormal enthusiasts near the abandoned city of Shelby Oaks. Riley’s older sister, Mia, has been searching for her sibling for over a decade and is participating in a documentary on the notorious case involving her sister, hoping she can not only find some answers but paint a larger picture of the girl she loved. Riley’s three partners were discovered slaughtered at a cabin near the infamous city along with one of the two cameras they had with them. Riley’s final video also offered a brief glimpse of a suspect and an even briefer glimpse at something unexplainable. In her youth, Riley claimed she would see a man outside of her second story bedroom window and the possibility of a psychic gift isn’t lost on her older sister. A break in filming brings a disheveled man to Mia’s door who immediately blows his own brains out after exclaiming “she finally let me go.” She notices he’s carrying a small MiniDV tape in his hand and grabs it before the cops show up. After the cops leave but before she cleans the fucking stranger’s cranium juices off her face, she watches the raw footage and it gets fucked up very quickly. Mia holds onto the tap because she’s afraid that if she hands it over, it ties up everything too nicely for the cops and they’ll be no effort put towards figuring out where Riley is. So, Mia begins her own investigation and comes to an insane conclusion that unfortunately all evidence seems to be pointing towards. Well, desperation and poor decisions being the dangerous tango partners they are, Mia decides to check out the spots her sister visited when everything went to hell and, uh, things go to hell. There’s a family connection to the spooky town, fucking David Keith showing up as a former prison warden with one hell of a story (I am always fine with his royal coolness David Keith telling a story) and a n atmospheric local spot of infamy to build a story around. Successfully interjecting found footage into standard filming offers an intriguing viewing experience but the exceptionally strong opening act kind of piddles away into a Satanic panic bit of hokum we’ve seen several times too many. Also, Mia is such a dope that you really can’t feel bad for her when she has an intense inability to see the fucking fire through the flames. Seriously, Mia. How have you outlived anyone?