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Overall Rating : 2/10
Directed By : Gonzalo López-Gallego
Warren Christie
Ryan Robbins
Ali Liebert
Lloyd Owen
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : December. 20, 2011
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| PLOT Officially, Apollo 17, launched December 7, 1972, was the last manned mission to the moon. But two years later, in December of 1974, two American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to the moon funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission. While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it’s the real reason we’ve never gone back to the moon. | ||||
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| THE REVIEW After to failed attempts to launch another mission to the moon, unbeknownst to us, in 1974, the Department of Defense launched 2 Astronauts, Ben Anderson and Nate Walker into space on a top secret, 2 day moon mission. The mission to retrieve new rock samples from the moon and to set up a space system turns out to be much more complicated when they discover on the moon, an abandoned Russian spacecraft. Among the space vehicle the 2 Astronauts find evidence of a bloody struggle, along with the decaying corpse of a sole Russian Cosmonaut. While the two men try to register what they have found, they are equally shocked to find the presence of spider-like alien life when one of the two men finds himself bitten by the life-form. As Nate Walker's heath slowly deteriorates, the ship stalls and communication with the control center fading, the 2 Astronauts find themselves virtually stranded and helpless. Like many "lost footage" films before it, APOLLO 18, presents itself as lost footage having been edited from 84 hours of footage uploaded to a website online. Text that opens the film sets up Apollo 18 as being a space mission to the moon, that until now, have been a confidential top secret mission. The film is show to the audience in an "As is" state, with the Director using various film stock looks to emulate the 1970s time period, and on that end, the film looks like it could possibly be genuine (although we know it is not). Unfortunately, also presented realistically are the film's real time occurrences, and in the film's first half, virtually nothing of interest really happens. It is near the film's midway point that things begin to somewhat pic up once Anderson and walker stumble upon the Russian spacecraft, as well as the Cosmonaut pilot that more then likely manned the ship. This is when the film takes less of a NASA training film vibe and more a feeling of a Horror film. And since I did make mention of the arachnid alien like creatures, most will assume that alone is what the film's Horror is anchored on, but in reality, most of the film's suspense is drawn from the feeling of claustrophobia, abandonment and cover up. Personally, I had a difficult time getting into this one myself. I had seen this film advertised when first released to theaters, and like similar films, it was marketed rather cryptically. The marketing for this film had movie-goers(myself included) believing that this movie could be the next big thing After all, what occurred on these tapes, is apparently good enough reason for us NOT to the moon, right? Well after months of building my curiosity up, I was disappointed to see this film end up as being some sort of low rent creature feature. A creature feature with not enough of the said creature. If you are gonna go THE THING on the moon route, at least do it in a way that it counts. APOLLO 18's intention is to be a film that is genuinely shocking and scary, but it fails in that it just doesn't have enough tension or suspense. The film's last act is truly when the film reaches it's highest level of suspense, however, with just about 10 minutes remaining, it's just too late for it to be beneficial to any extent, beyond just being one of the film's better moments. After THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was all the rage, like many success stories, other films have come along only to try to replicate its success. I have seen a few of these films(most recently, EVIL THINGS), and I have yet to see another similar film that is as effective as BLAIR WITCH is. APOLLO 18 sadly, feels as though it is just another film that is aimed for the cheap shock. Did it get it? The reaction seems to be mixed, but it appears that the majority of views say "No". I'd have to agree with them. Perhaps had APOLLO 18 been the first of its kind, the reaction would be different. However, since APOLLO 18 is just one in a growing line of these types of films, it comes of a little stale. And even it's Horror elements aren't that great, as they are severely underdeveloped. The Blu-Ray looks great, yet the film benefits very little from the film, seeing as the film itself is purposely made to appear old and worn. The film also doesn't use the full widescreen ratio through out as the film stocks alternate multiple times through out the film. So if this film is a "much watch" for you, a standard DVD should look just fine, if you do not have the money to purchase the film in high definition. |
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| GORE
METER 2/10 Some blood splatter, a dead corpse, and a flesh wound. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE N/A Virtually no score, other than the music briefly heard on one of the Astronaut's radio. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Talk about misleading advertising. We have all seen it before, but APOLLO 18 just happens to be the latest. With this film I was expecting something new and innovative, but unfortunately, I found that APOLLO 18 is just trying to cash in on a now decade long trend. As I mentioned in the film, there is not a lot of action, and when it does occur, it's either undermined or it just hasn't enough time to reach its full potential. Chalk this one down as being a big disappointment. Special Features include - Audio commentary with director Gonzalo López-Gallego and editor Patrick Lussier - Deleted and Alternate Scenes - Alternate Endings - Digital copy - DVD copy of the film | ||||
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