I will open this by saying that Apollo 18 is not a horror film. I would classify the film as “found footage” science fiction. The movie chronicles the USA's (fictional) final mission to the Moon and, as the astronauts quickly learn, the reason that there have not been any lunar landings in the last several decades.

The film mimics older recordings and succeeds quite well in presenting the film as having been recorded in the early 70s on various different types of cameras. The downside of this is that it is often difficult stay focused on the story. As someone who is easily susceptible to headaches, these type of films can be difficult to watch and I found myself closing my eyes during some of the more active scenes. The audio is also difficult decipher at times and some of the louder screeches caused me to cover my ears.

At a run time of the movie is 1 hour and 26 minutes, the movie is shorter than expected. The story opens by giving a brief history of the Apollo program and stating that the movie was edited from 84 hours of “found material” that have been posted on the website www.lunartruth.com*. The film then quickly introduces the characters and explains the premise of their mission. The film predominately focuses on the events after the two main characters land on the moon and begin taking samples. After that point, the events unfold rather quickly. The film has and even pace that steadily increases towards the climax.

The major downside of this movie is that it seems to have been created for one audience in mind. If you are not a fan of science fiction and “found footage” movies, you will most likely be quite bored with this film. Fans of the genre, can expect some predictability. This film is advertised as being a horror film, but I found some parts were a little freaky, but not scary. The director did a decent job creating a claustrophobic atmosphere and you do get a sense, especially towards the end, of how cut off the astronauts actually are.

Overall, I will say that this is an “Okay” movie. I expected the audio and video issues, so I was not bothered by them. I am slightly disappointed in the direction the film took, but I was not bored. I can suggest that fans of the genre may find interest enough to see it in theaters, but would recommend that everyone else skip it.

 -DJ Creepiz

* This page states that it has been heavily censored. There is a small button underneath the image that will redirect you to http://missioncontrolblog.org/. This website is an interesting companion to the movie, if the subject interest you. There are several mock documents and videos that coincidence with the film.