Apollo 18 (Review)
United States/2011
Netflix Streaming: Yes
Amazon Prime: No
A 31 Days of Halloween Special Review!*
"The film comes in at
about 1 hour and 16 minutes -- about an hour too much."
In
December 1974, a crew is set to secretly land on the Moon for a special
mission from the Department of Defense. The crew safely lands and
completes their mission, but realize they may not be alone...
Apollo
18 is a found-footage SciFi Horror film. The story is as basic as it
gets. The crew continue to explore the area and find that they may not
be alone. As they try to leave, their flight is complicated and they are
forced to wait for extraction. Eventually, they are attacked by an
unknown species and must plan their own escape. There really isn't much
going on, just talking and occasional exploration; there aren't many
significant events, and the film moves slowly to a dull climax. The
story ends practically the same as every other found-footage horror film
out there -- abruptly and unfulfilling.
So, there isn't much
going on in the story. Unfortunately, there isn't much terror, either.
Apollo 18 isn't a scary film by any means. The suspense is almost
nonexistent, except for a scene or two. There are a few jump-scares,
mostly fake-outs, but there is one good one. The unknown entity in this
film is weak -- it's unique, but has little screen presence and the
design is forgettable, and many will laugh at the initially perceived concept. The scares, or
the attempts at scares, are far and few in between. Boring story and
lack of scares -- this was better off a short film or YouTube project.
The
acting is mostly good, it is a bit overdone towards the end, but it's
mostly competent and enjoyable. I really liked the set and costume
design, it was interesting and felt authentic. Unfortunately, the
direction and writing is poor, as the film feels bland from beginning to
end. The found-footage is often too choppy visually, and the purposeful
audio "dialogue out of sync" mixing is confusing for the storytelling
and unnecessary. There isn't much else to say about the technicalities.
Overall,
Apollo 18
is a short film poorly disguised as feature length. The
pacing is slow, without suspense, scares, or payoff; the story is boring
and uneventful; and, the best part of the film -- the costume and
setting design -- is under-and-poorly utilized. The film comes in at
about 1 hour and 16 minutes -- about an hour too much.
Score: 2/10
Parental Guide: Some violence and blood.
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