****SPOILERS**** Unreported last manned space flight to the moon on Christmas day 1974 that didn't quite make it back has us believe that it run into interference with some kind of alien virus that contaminated the entire three man crew and was ditched by the very agency NASA that sent it there. It's not just the Apollo mission that was kept secret from the public but an earlier Soviet manned space probe to the lunar surface that ended in disaster with it's cosmonaut crewman dying from the same alien virus that eventually did in the three US astronauts.Shot in a choppy and slow motion semi black & white photography it's as torturous watching the movie as it is for the actors in it playing their parts. With the head man Captain Ben Anderson, Warren Christe, trying to keep his two man crew Commander Nate Walker, Lloyd Owens, and module pilot Col. John Gray,Ryan Robbins,from flipping out before he can get them back to earth with his boss Secretary of Defense Michael Kopsa scrubbing their secret mission in mid-flight. That in keeping the public from knowing what a complete disaster it was.***SPOILERS***It seemed that the reason for this space mission was to really find out what happened to the Soviet space module that secretly landed on the moon after the lat Apollo mission, Apollo 17, was launched two years earlier and if it was still in operation. The men of Apollo 18 had no idea what they were expected to accomplish until they came upon the destroyed Soviet space craft and soon realized they were on a suicide mission right from the start. That was not only to prove that there's someone else up there but sadly also like himself, the Soviet cosmonaut,they were to suffer the same fate that he did!

Apollo 18 (2011) Directed by Gonzalo Lopez Gallego, and written by Brian Miller, Is a clever concept, A mocumentary about the last unreported Lunar landing. Spoiler Alert ahead, I Intend to talk about the film, What I liked; It very much captured the technology of the period, the film ratio was pure period nostalgia. Did we detect Super 8 on some of the home movies? Nice attention to detail. All the footage at the start mimicked the images we recall, they were uncannily set up in the studio, so as to intimate that the original footage we recall, might have thus been staged as well, but I digress.No, there is a far more sinister plot about, The movie goes to great length to introduce us to the three Astronauts chosen for this top secret mission, Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen and Ryan Robbins play Ben, Nate and John. Good old, all American Team players. Ben and Nate would land on the Moon, and John would orbit in the return module. By the time we get to the first, "Wawazat?" The movie was already in decline.OK, there was some degree of originality in the nature of the threat. Here's that spoiler alert, Keyword; Moonrocks. A mineral,slash Biological organism that wants the moon for its own. For an alien race, it seemed to understand human biology, enough to invade and infect a person, Ben is infected, Nate won't abandon him. It's all a DOD cover up. And now we know why we don;t go to the Moon anymore.Worse yet, there may be many of these phony Rock impersonators running amok down here on Mother Earth. Downside of this movie; Standard Sci fi cliché's take one; Electronic surveillance cameras will go all static rather then reveal the monsters appearance.In truth, the monster here never fully reveals itself nor it's motive; Sometimes its just a pointy rock, other times it seems like a biological parasite, and to top off the confusion, It leaves rather odd looking footprints. So how does this film rate, Fair to average, a clever idea pushed further than they knew what to do with. Seven out of Ten "Moonrock" stones, I mean Stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, despite the negative reviews from many people. The new cinematic style of found footage film is one of -those- kinds of film that either you absolutely love it, and spend eons looking for more films in that style; or you loathe it and all films like it. The depth of the characters, whereas the build up previous to become attached to the characters doesn't show too much--it simply throws you into the action after a brief interlude. I admired the acting and footage style. The mounting of the desperation of Ben Anderson, as the terror of the unknown builds in slow simmer to an explosive finish, it really drew me in. If you find yourself looking for a good, short horror flick (especially if you love quality found footage flicks as I do), I definitely suggest that you invest the hour and fifteen minutes.

Houston, we have a problem, this movie wasn't good. This movie felt less like the moon, and more like a large box of kitty litter. There are dropping, everywhere. Once in a blue moon, you get great moon thrillers like 2009's Moon, or 1995's Apollo 13. You'd be a lunatic to think Gonzalo López-Gallego's Apollo 18 belong with that group. Stay away from the horse drugs, Keith Moon! It's not helping you. I have to give props to Gonzalo López-Gallego for trying to shoot for the moon and try to make a good movie by filming it in NASA old found footage style. It really did look like real NASA footage and enjoy that. Still, the Found Footage in horror movies has become a tiresome gimmick that ends up limiting films rather than liberating them. It's a subgenre that is seemingly defined by its own restraints, and usually view as cheap method of filmmaking. However, the movie found-footage is new enough and done well, that it was watchable. Too bad, the horror plot wasn't. The film's premise is that the canceled Apollo 18 mission actually landed on the moon in December 1974, but never returned, and as a result the United States has never launched another expedition to the Moon. If the movie is saying, we didn't go back to the moon, then how is the footage even found? The footage has to be found somehow, right? It could recovered/transmitted, but it seems like the filmmakers didn't even think of that. Yes, maybe most of the footage was from live-feeds, but it's never explain, since Apollo 18 never returned home. Due to these reason, we, the audience already know how the movie is going to turn out, and pretty predictable. Usually that means that whoever we're following for the bulk of the film is gonna be dead by the end of it. This is a problem, that's exclusive to found footage films. You know, it's going to bittersweet ending, and going to sucks to watch. Too bad, the movie ending is hilarious over the top. It really ruin the whole movie mood of being scary. It's like, watching a Ridley Scott's Alien movie being replace by Alf. It truly hit rock bottom. The movie does have alternate scenes and endings, including footage of how the Russian cosmonaut died and the many alternate deaths of the astronauts. It's worth checking out, if you want to. The movie has this conspiracy-theory theme that I kinda loved. I do loved the claustrophobia feel to it. The visual and special effects are not that bad. The sets and costume design really does give you, a feel of the 1970s vibe. Too bad, the characters that inhabit the films are flimsy and thin. Honestly, the characters are nearly forgettable. I can't say, the acting by Warren Christie & Lloyd Owen is bad. It was alright for the most part; but what they were delivering, were some pretty bland dialogue. The movie is full of jump scares or loud noises. It really lack the psychological toll needed to be scary. If the moon was about, going space crazy! Maybe, it would work. By using cheap jump loud scares, you get what people view only a cheap attempt of scaring people. It's a big different. Honestly, how are the creepy sound effects or ambient sound being portray here, when there is no sound in the vacuum of space? For a movie so into making it look realistic, that's a big no-no. 2013's Gravity proves that you don't need it. I know the shaky, hand-held camera work can make the action or horror sequence seem much more lifelike and frantic, but, for the rest of the film it's usually useless and often times distracting. It was a headache to watch and you probably get motion sickness. Worst of all, there is a large difference between well done hand-held camera work and bad hand-held camera work. Here is a minor nitpick, I thought the movie need some music. Music is a valuable tool needed to the mood of a good horror movie. It helps scenes build and swell, it can manipulate the audience feelings of fear or comfort, and can sometimes create truly classic, lasting moments. The pacing is a bit too long for me. There's so much downtime between events that it takes an eternity to get to the action we're supposed to be getting immersed in. The film is only 90 minutes long, and still feels drawn out. Overall: It's predictable, slow pace and mostly dull. There's a reason, people never gone back to watching this movie. Its shows, right there with no dark side of the moon.