Apollo 18

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

In my Chronicle write up I mentioned how much I love the found-footage concept. More times than not though, it doesn't really work. I do love the audacity of found-footage from the moon. That's just ridiculous. I only wish the end game wasn't so ridiculous.

I'll be honest I didn't have high hopes for this film after the release was dumped. So I was surprised to find a few moments where the slow build really did work, as well as some genuinely creepy scenes. I think something about the absolute isolations of space makes these situations all the more tense inherently. All credibility goes out the window when it's finally revealed what the big secret is. I think a simpler survival horror story would have been far more effective. But this film takes the b-movie route big time.

One thing I cannot falter is the recreation of the moon surface and period footage. As unlikely as it would be that as much footage as we see was recorded, the authenticity of the environment and the footage is far beyond anything I can recall and I really have to give it big credit for that, as it's something I'm always trying out in my own work.

I note Timur Bekmambetov as a producer, so I presume he helped provide the lunar landscape fx that blend so authentically. It truly is beautiful.

Pity about the end. This is a real could-have-been.