APOLLO 18 (2011) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Gonzalo López-Gallego
Warren Christie, Ryan Roberts, Lloyd Owen
It's generally accepted that the last manned trip to the moon was Apollo 17 in 1972. This movie imagines a follow-up flight, dispatched by the Defense Department on a mission so secret, even the astronauts don't know what's going on. When they get to the moon, they find out. It's yet another "found footage" horror movie, and it works better than most, at least partly because the blurry visuals and staticky sound approximate what we're used to from old space shots on television. It also helps that the astronauts are played by relatively unknown actors. It makes them seem more like real astronauts. The effects are visibly low-tech - the fuzzy cinematography and abrupt cutting are an asset there - and the suspense comes more from what you don't see, or kind of see, or maybe think you see, than anything that actually shows up on the screen. Just keep an eye on those moon rocks. And when you start to feel edgy and your eyes get real bloodshot, paranoid psychosis might be a logical response.
