Apollo 18

OK, another movie review. In short, it’s a “found footage” movie like Blair Witch, but without quite so much shakeycam. The gag is that in 1974 the DoD supposedly launched an unmanned Saturn V to orbit some large defense satellite, but it was actually the Apollo 18 mission. Lands at the lunar south pole, hijinks ensue.

On the whole it pretty much actually looked like late Apollo vintage footage. Nothing much to complain about the special effects; periods spent in zero g are actually shown as zero g; movement on the lunar surface makes a good stab at 1/6 g. Without giving away too much of the plot, it’s a space horror movie… space critters and space infectious plague style. Turns out the Russians also got to the moon. Who knew?

If you are looking for a fair horror flick, this one ain’t bad. There is certainly some really effective creepiness in it, everything from the guys looking out of the LEM windows and noticing that the flag ain’t there anymore, to scenes shot in a shadowed lunar crevasse lit only by the flash on a camera, with barely discernible movement by Things That Should Not Be. There are a few head-shakable things from the science standpoint, not least of which is a launch from the lunar surface in a vehicle that couldn’t possibly work… and one hugenormous plot hole revolving around the fact that this is all “found footage” mostly in the form of 16mm film.

According to IMDB, the budget on this one was a whole five million dollars. A bit surprising… while much of it is shot in the CSM and the LEM (both of which looked to be pretty darn accurate), a fair amount is shot on the lunar surface with a functioning lunar rover, very likely all done with greenscreen and CGI.

Not the most spectacular movie, but for a low-budget, it’s not too shabby. Certainly worth the $4 ticket price if you happen to be in the area of the theater with time to kill.

Oh, and for what it’s worth: according to “Rotten Tomatoes,” only 23% of the critics liked it, but 77% of the regular schmoes did. A bit early yet, these could change, but if the ratio remains, it’s an interesting pointer towards just how relevant movie critics really are towards determining whether you’ll like a movie.

UPDATE, Sept 4, 10 PM: according to Rotten Tomatoes, the favorability stats remain about the same… 21% of critics liked it vs 75% of the audience. But at this point it hardly seems to matter… with a budget of about $5 million, it has (according to Box Office Mojo) already made $8.7 million domestically. Not a blockbuster, nothing at all like Blair Witch ($60K budget, $250M total take) or Paranormal Activity ($15K budget, $194M total take). But then, also nothing like Cowboys and Aliens ($163M budget, $146M total take) or Mars Needs Moms ($150M budget, $39M total take) or Dylan Dog ($20M budget, $4.6M total)or The Beaver ($21M budget, $6.4M total).

Ouch.