Saturday, October 1, 2011

Spotlight: Apollo 18


Apollo 18 is a science fiction horror film that was directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego, which is his first English film. It was produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Ron Schmidt. Apollo 18 was made at Bazelevs Studio and was distributed by Dimension Films. The cast is only three people as director Gonzalo says the old style clips was “found footage.” The movie stars Warren Christie as Ben Anderson, a Lunar Module Pilot Captain; Lloyd Owen as Nate Walker, a Commander; and Ryan Robbins as John Grey, a Command Module Pilot Lieutenant Colonel.


This movie is based on the Apollo 18 actually going to the moon. The crew is told in December of 1974 that the mission is a go, but it is now a top secret mission from the Department of defence. When they get there they place ICBM detectors, in case the USSR attacks them. They take some samples of moon rocks and head back to their lunar module, called Liberty. When Grey and Anderson try to sleep they hear noises and their camera outside had captured a small rock nearby. I won’t ruin the rest for you and I doubt with my review you will be convinced to watch it.


This movie was a huge pain to watch. I admit not being a fan of horror, when something pops out at me, I jump a little, but that only happened once. This movie has the feel to it as Paranormal Activity and is in the same mockumentary style. The only problem with Apollo 18 is the fact that there is only one thrilling moment and the rest of it just boringness. Even the spider moon rock alien type things weren’t even scary and were actually pretty lame. The fact that there is only three actors and that the old footage is “found footage” really annoys me and the director isn’t selling me on the fact that something could possibly be out there. I give Apollo 18 a 1 out of 5 stars because it was a horribly done thriller and no one really like Blair Witch style movies anymore, unless it is Paranormal Activity, but that's mainstream media for you!