Film Review: Chilling, Creepy ‘Apollo 18’ Makes Us Wonder What If

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CHICAGO – Space, the final frontier. The USA made one giant leap for mankind during the Apollo moon landing program forty years ago. Why were the missions abruptly terminated? Why haven’t they gone back? “Apollo 18” theorizes on the answers.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Set up and shot as if using top secret archival footage from the era, technical flaws and all, Apollo 18 becomes a secret mission after Apollo 17 (the last real mission), facilitated by the Department of Defense (and that ain’t gonna come out good). The film is eerie, for the colorless vacuum of the moon is a perfect setting for a few conspiracy theories to bloom.

It begins with the somber explanations of how Apollo 11 started it all, but one year later the decision to scrub the rest of the missions was made, and Apollo 17 was the last “official landing” on the moon in 1972. Apollo 18 is being launched as a secret mission, given the task to plant what is assumed to be defense oriented sensors that would detect Russian air strikes.

As was in the previous missions, two astronauts (portrayed by Warren Christie and Lloyd Owen) land on the lunar surface, and another crew member circles above them in orbit within the command module. The secret mission is then tracked through video and surveillance footage that has ended up being declassified, and the bizarre saga unfolds through those multiple points of view.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Apollo 18”

Can You Hear Me Now?: A Space Scream in ‘Apollo 18’ Photo credit: Dimension Films

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Apollo 18”