It may have taken almost 40 years, but finally the truth has come out about Apollo 18's secret landing on the moon, and the tragic circumstances that followed. And that truth is...well, there was no Apollo 18, but it makes for a nice, intriguing concept, don't it? Firmly in the "found footage" vein of horror flicks such as The Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity franchise, Apollo 18 takes the premise of a secret, covered-up moon landing and uses it as an excuse to "explain" why we've never gone back to the moon. And despite what you might have heard, it's not because of Transformers.
Shot for a mere $5 million, Apollo 18 has since taken in $25.5 million worldwide. And while the flick didn't fare too well in the reviews, I'm a sucker for the premise, so I'll definitely be checking it out when it hits Blu-ray and DVD on December 27th. I mean, just take a look at this trailer:
Paranoia and claustrophobia are extremely effective elements when it comes to horror -- just look at the original Alien -- and you can't get much more claustrophobic than the cramped interior of a lunar lander, or more conducive to paranoia than the empty stretches and pitch-black shadows of the moon's surface. Granted, it's entirely possible that the folks involved took a great premise and wasted it, but...I'm keeping my fingers crossed to judge for myself.
The good news is that this one won't be a bare-bones release. Despite being a relatively low-profile release, the Apollo 18 Blu-ray and DVD will include an audio commentary with director Gonzalo López-Gallego and editor Patrick Lussier, deleted and alternate scenes, alternate endings, and other bonus features they haven't confirmed yet. All in all, sounds like it'll be worth a rental if nothing else, assuming you love the premise as much as I do.
