SLA at Fantasia: Shelby Oaks – Spoiler Free Movie Review

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If you’ve ever talked to me about movies, chances are I have brought up a person whose videos I’ve watched on YouTube religiously for around fourteen years. That person is Chris Stuckmann. On a basic level, Chris and I shared the same taste in movies, but it was more his approach to talking about movies that really pulled me in. More than anything, Chris was a fan of movies first and foremost, and it was the passion above all else that has made me a long-time subscriber to his YouTube channel.  In fact, it was Chris’s approach that inspired the very website you’re reading now. I started Screen Love Affair because I love movies and I wanted to share that feeling with the world. Like Chris, I wanted to put that passion out there with the hope that someone will discover a new movie that inspires them, because they read about it here.  For Chris, though, talking about movies wasn’t enough. He has been a filmmaker since he was a kid and, as executive producer Mike Flanagan said tonight at the world premiere of Shelby Oaks, it was obvious that Chris would be here someday.  I was able to attend the world premiere of Shelby Oaks as part of the coverage we’ve been doing of the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. We got to hear from Mike Flanagan, who was also there to introduce Chris before the movie. The cast and crew in attendance stuck around for a Q&A afterwards as well. If you’d like to see that and our coverage of the rest of the Fantasia Film Festival, be sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter)! Shelby Oaks is a mystery-horror movie written, directed, and produced by Chris Stuckmann. The film stars Camille Sullivan as Mia, Brendan Sexton III as Mia’s husband Robert, Michael Beach as Detective Burch, Robin Bartlett as Norma, Keith David as Morton Jacobson, and Sarah Durn as Mia’s sister Riley.  As for the plot, I’ll only provide you with a fraction of the synopsis because I think it gives you more than enough detail to know what kind of movie to expect: “Mia frantically searches for her sister Riley, after Riley ominously disappeared in the last taping of a show by a group of paranormal investigators called the Paranormal Paranoids.” Before we get into the review itself, rest assured that like all of my reviews, this will be SPOILER FREE. Also, for full disclosure, I was a backer on the Shelby Oaks Kickstarter campaign. I have no financial stake in the movie or anything, but when Chris announced the Kickstarter, it was important for me to give something back to the person that had given me so much for so many years. So, without further ado, let’s get Stuckmannized!  My Thoughts To state it right at the top, I’m thrilled to report that this was a strong feature film debut for Chris Stuckmann! There was plenty of buzz and excitement around this one, especially amongst the sold out theatre in Montreal that came to watch the premiere.  The performances were great all around, but the real standout here is the lead performance by Camille Sullivan. The whole movie rests on her shoulders and she does a fantastic job conveying the grief and the hope that her character carries throughout the movie. Another standout for me was Robin Bartlett as Norma. She had the entire theatre in the palm of her hand for every second she was on screen and was a genuine delight to watch. Sticking with what I liked, Stuckmann’s direction was probably the biggest highlight of the whole thing for me. There was a confidence I could feel throughout the movie with almost every shot. Stuckmann isn’t just a fan of horror movies, he’s a student of the game, and he knows how to use the frame and audio to create specific feelings of dread in the audience. Even I, as a seasoned horror veteran, found myself getting drawn into these moments and experiencing some genuine scares. When I anticipated a jump scare approaching, Stuckmann would linger a beat or two longer than most horror movies. This restraint causes just an extra notch of suspense that really goes a long way when it comes to building and then releasing tension.  To contrast the horror, though, this movie is also really funny. There were plenty of laughs to be had, not in the form of annoying quips or forced jokes, but in recognizing the humour that can only be found in the horror genre. Oftentimes in horror movies, there are certain moments that are so absurd that you can’t help but laugh. Shelby Oaks succeeds where most horror movies fail in this regard, because it recognizes the humour in those moments, while lesser movies insist on trying to make the absurd scary, which causes a disconnect with the audience.  Another highlight was just the perspective of the movie itself. I won’t give anything away, but this was one of the best and most unique aspects of the movie. In a genre as populated as horror, it’s always impressive to me when you can do something new, and that’s what Stuckmann was able to do here.  When it came to the sound, I was a little more mixed. One of the things that really takes me out of a tense scene in a horror movie is when I notice the audio drop out completely. It’s not just a subconscious thing that makes it easier for me to pay attention to every little sound, it makes me acutely aware of the fact that something loud is going to appear on the screen suddenly. I lose all sense of tension as I sit there simply waiting for that thing to happen. When it comes to the sound mixing and design, I find a more subtle approach, with a very limited score throughout, keeps me a little less aware and prepared for

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SLA at Fantasia: ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ (2024) – Movie Review

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If you haven’t already seen the memo (or read Adriana’s great review to kick off our coverage), we’re going to be covering the Fantasia Film Festival this year! We will have tons of reviews for you in the coming weeks, but we encourage you to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for more regular updates about what we’re up to during the festival. With that out of the way, I started my Fantasia adventure off with Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo). This is a 2024 French period action-thriller film based on the 1844 novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas. This adaptation was written and directed by the duo of Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière. For anyone unfamiliar with the source material (like I was), the movie starts in France in the year 1815. Edmond Dantès, played spectacularly by Pierre Niney, is ever so briefly on top of the world before he comes tumbling down through treachery and betrayal. Revenge, though, is one hell of a motivator and another twist of fate may just make that revenge possible. One interesting note too is that the budget for this film was reportedly €42.9 million (about $46.7 million USD), which makes it the most expensive French film of the year! So, with that out of the way, did I start my Fantasia 2024 experience off with a bang or a whimper? My Thoughts This was a definite BANG and one hell of a way to start off the Fantasia Film Festival! First of all, this movie played like a superhero movie at the screening I was at. To see the same level of reactions to a French language period piece as I did when I saw Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame was an unexpected but hilarious treat. I’m pretty sure the crowd popped harder when Dantès called himself “Le Comte de Monte-Cristo” for the first time than when Captain America yelled for the Avengers to assemble. To bring you even more into my experience at my first Fantasia screening, if you’ve never been to one before, it’s common for people in the crowd to meow like cats before the movie starts and cheer loudly for the Nongshim Noodle commercial. Check out this Reddit thread to learn more about the origins of those traditions. Anyway, let’s dig into the actual movie itself, because there was a lot to really like here! First of all, that big budget was used well, because the movie looked fantastic. Locations and sets were amazing, the costumes were fantastic, and the makeup (which is key to the plot) was also superb. In conversations I’ve had with people about films made outside of the US or Hollywood system, there is often a concern that they’re cheaper or of lesser quality as a result, and that absolutely isn’t the case. There was nothing I saw that made this movie feel amateurish and, as a matter of fact, it puts a lot of modern Hollywood movies to shame. The entire cast here was phenomenal too. Aside from Pierre Niney, who I’ve already mentioned, the movie also stars Bastien Bouillon, Anaïs Demoustier, Laurent Lafitte, Vassili Schneider, and Anamaria Vartolomei. While everyone was great, of particular note to me was Vassili Schneider, who had a charm and look that reminded me a lot of Timothee Chalamet (sorry, Abby). We’re not given any reason to dislike his character other than his association with the targets of Dantès’ vengeance, but the story needs us to like this character for it to work. Thankfully Schneider was so charming and likable as Albert that he really becomes the sole embodiment of pure love, while being surrounded by people motivated by greed or hate. There was one scene in particular towards the middle of the film where the rest of the main cast gets to shine, and it was one of the best scenes I’ve seen all year! Without giving details away, the Count is regaling his dinner guests with a supposed ghost story that hits a little close to home for some of his guests while others are fully engaged with giddy excitement. Every single actor in the scene has to do something unique and specific, and you can’t help but laugh at the reactions of each character. It was truly a standout scene in a movie filled with a ton of great moments. Another thing I want to cover is the score. The score fit the movie well, and when it became more prominent in certain moments, it definitely worked, but I didn’t feel too strongly about this aspect of the movie. For what it’s worth though, I’m not the most musically inclined person in the world, so scores really only tend to stand out to me when they’re more noticeable in movies like Oppenheimer or Past Lives, to give you a couple examples from last year. Sticking with audio, the sound design was another big highlight, specifically during the action sequences. The movie isn’t full of constant action by any means, but every action scene feels impactful. This isn’t something most people are aware of when they watch a movie, but the power of sound design in action is massive, even if you don’t notice it. For example, imagine you’re watching a movie where someone falls off the roof of a three story building and when they land on the ground, you don’t hear any sound. The result is that despite your eyes seeing a great fall, you don’t really feel like it was a great fall. I didn’t even realize how bad most movies are in this regard until I saw this one, because absolutely every gunshot, punch, or fall is something you hear and feel. The movie doesn’t come close to the flash of what you’ll find in the John Wick movies (nor does it want to), but you absolutely feel every single hit and that is incredibly important for selling an

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SLA at Fantasia: Carnage for Christmas – Movie Review

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We’re kicking off the Fantasia International Film Festival with a self-described “transgender holiday film,” directed and co-written by Alice Maio Mackay. There’s nothing like a good Christmas slasher in the middle of a humid Montreal July to offer a little bit of escapism. Carnage for Christmas is the first film in Fantasia’s ‘Underground’ lineup in 2024, which highlights “bold, super independent outsider works that possess a purity of vision and are wholly unafraid to take risks”. It’s also the first film of Mackay’s that I’ve seen, but, shockingly, considering the Australian filmmaker is just 19 years old, it’s her fifth feature. To be this prolific—and this creatively fearless—at just 19 is both awe-inspiring and more than a little envy-inducing. I didn’t know exactly what I was expecting going in, but with a title like Carnage for Christmas, and a throwback-style poster evoking the iconic Black Christmas (1974), I knew I was probably in for a fun time. And that’s exactly what I got! The film follows Lola, forensic investigator and host of a true crime podcast, who returns to her hometown for Christmas for the first time since running away and transitioning. Upon her return, bodies start to pile up, as her own past and the town’s dark history rear their heads. The holiday vibes are relatively minimal, especially at first. I’m also used to snow-white Christmases here in Canada, so the Australian setting didn’t exactly help to put me in the Christmas spirit. But, despite the lack of snow, we still get a fun holiday twist to the usual slasher tropes and imagery that makes the film effectively campy and creepy. In general, the movie is a bit slow to start, and the resolution felt somewhat rushed to me. But with a scant 70-minute runtime, that’s no surprise, and Mackay still manages to fit a lot into those 70 minutes, from fairly well-realized characters and relationships to small town lore to a whole animated sequence (!) that quickly and impressively conveys our protagonist’s relevant traumatic backstory. And honestly, by the time a drag queen is using her tits as a weapon, I was quite on board with the whole endeavor, despite the film’s flaws. Without spoiling too much, the ending, rushed as it was, felt redemptive and cathartic in a way that I think a lot of queer folks will appreciate. Don’t get me wrong here—for all its messaging, this is also a bloody, expletive-filled slasher. There’s some good use of practical effects, as well as some sharp lines of dialogue and moments of humour that work quite well. The performances, while at times a bit stiff, are also surprisingly good, especially from Jeremy Moineau, who plays Lola and has the difficult task of carrying the entire film and, as far as I can tell, hasn’t acted in anything else before. To that point, you can definitely tell the movie is low-to-no budget, but it’s what I would call “charmingly low budget”. It’s polished enough that the low-budget aspects don’t really detract from the experience, and more importantly, it’s clear that Mackay has an assured vision and presence as a director. With editing and visual effects by Vera Drew (whose film The People’s Joker released in the US earlier this year to critical acclaim), Carnage has a sense of visual flair and confidence that feels rare for a movie at this level. It also feels like a truly collaborative movie. From what I gather, a lot of the cast and crew here are people Mackay has worked with before, and it has the feeling of a group of friends coming together to create something they’re passionate about and have fun doing it, which is something I always appreciate and adore in a movie. Ultimately, we need more trans voices and filmmakers, especially in subversive genres like horror, where they’ve historically been either victimized or villainized. So I’m happy to say that, while the edges are rough and not every swing lands, this is a welcome entry into the queer underground Christmas horror canon. Verdict With a brisk runtime, a distinct sense of style, and some solid performances—all on a very low budget—this is a fun, campy, holiday slasher. While I wasn’t blown away by anything here, Carnage for Christmas shows a lot of promise. If this is what Alice Maio Mackay can do at 19 on a nothing budget, then I can’t wait to see what she’s capable of with even more to work with. And if she continues at this pace, she’ll be a household name in horror in no time.

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