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TV show review: CONTINUUM season 4
PHOTOGRAPHY

APOLLO 18
Movie review by David Blackwell

86 minutes, rated PG-13
ASPECT RATIO: 1.78:1
STUDIO:  Dimension Films
Theatrical RELEASE DATE:  9-2-2011

STARRING Lloyd Owen, Warren Christie, Ryan Robbins
WRITTEN by Brian Miller
DIRECTED by Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego

APOLLO 18 is the latest work of found footage fiction in the tradition of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, and CLOVERFIELD.     It is about a secret mission to the moon by the Department of Defense in December 1974.   The astronauts plant cameras and collect rock samples only to find the Soviet Union has been to the moon.   The dead cosmonaut and the rocks that aren't rocks are documented by all the footage shot in the film.   APOLLO 18 shows what happens to the astronauts during the course of their ill-fated mission to the moon.

APOLLO 18 is a creepy sci-fi movie shown in an old camera footage fashion like it is real footage from that era.   The astronauts are kept in the dark until it is too late.  The DOD know the purpose of the mission only to have their knowledge to be hidden.   I do think the Weinstein Company shouldn't have played "the footage is real" card because NASA went out to debunk it and no one will take the claim serious (plus I recognize one of the astronauts being played by actor who stars in the TV series SANCTUARY).   APOLLO 18 was originally scheduled for release in April only to be delayed due to the film being shot late in Canada.   Still the stories surrounding secret moon missions spawn even more creative stories that the sci-fi horror tale that was written and filmed.    I do wish the web site address at the end of the film was a real web site as a way to show additional footage from the mission.  Maybe The Weinstein Company will have plenty of neat extras and extra footage for DVD/ Blu-ray release.

this movie review is (c)9-4-2011 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com