Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Apollo 18 (2011)

History states the last mission to the moon was Apollo 17. But there was another mission which was kept a secret until someone posted video footage online revealing what really happened.

Made from video shot by the Astronauts and from the ships video feed, the film reveals three men were sent to the moon on the Apollo 18 mission in order to secretly set up some surveillance equipment.  

One guy stays in orbit while the other two land and work on completing the mission.  While working outside the ship, they find footsteps which lead to an empty Russian ship with a trashed interior, and eventually to a dead Russian cosmonaut.

Strange things start happening. Noises are heard outside. Their flag goes missing. There is radio interference and their antenna is damaged.  Something gets into one of their helmets, and a space rock gets under ones skin and his cut gets infected. Oh, this is not looking good. Can they complete the mission, get off the moon, and get home safely?

This found footage movie is different from others I've seen.  It's set in the 1960s where they would have used film rather than video.  It's not overly scary, but is based more on atmosphere (no pun intended).  The majority of the film takes place in the capsule so it's a bit claustrophobic, and there's tension as to whether they will be able to get back to the ship orbiting the moon or back to Earth.  Will they suffer the same fate as the Russian? Will they run out of air?  What is causing the problems they are encountering? Is there something alive on the Moon? If so, is it after them?

I was interested to see if they would be able to make it back to the ship and go home.  But there were  some major holes in the story.  Why would a distress call made from the Russian ship end up connected to the Defense Department? (We certainly weren't friendly with Russia at that time.)  How did they get the film that was shot by the Astronauts? Why don't Russian boots have treads? How did that thing get into his helmet outside the ship?  And most importantly, if a guy with a hammer repeatedly smashing the window is a problem, then they may want to rethink the construction of their ships.

No comments: