Visitors Review

JoeB131 (2012-05-25 20:42)

Blair Witch in Spaaaaaaaaaaaace.

Have the Weinsteins ever produced a movie that made you feel not feeldepressed ? I mean, they seem to excel in making joyless garbage.The plot of this stinker is that there's a top secret mission to themoon that NASA didn't tell anyone about, like you could really keepthat sort of thing secret. The astronauts find a Soviet lunar module,and a dead Cosmonaut, and are quickly set upon by space spiders wholook like rocks normally.And this is all done in the annoying Blair Witch style of badly editedcamera shots that keep rolling all the way to the end, and no possibleway this film could have gotten back to earth the way the film ended.The film moves slowly, the shocks are kind of predictable and you don'tbelieve for a moment this is 1973. Oh, I think they threw a Watergatereference in there somewhere.

paudie (2012-05-25 02:40)

Decent movie with no surprises

Apollo 18 is a decent if predictable "found footage" thriller set onthe moon. I'm not giving much away by giving the bare bones of theplot. A secret NASA mission to the moon starts to go terribly wrong as itbecomes clear to the astronauts that "they are not alone!". Scary orwhat? Not very but still a decent slow burner.The movie may fall between two stools by not being gory enough for thehorror fans and being too silly for the thriller/sci-fi fans.It's nice and short though at less than 90 minutes so I wouldn'tcriticise it too much.

kkinne (2012-05-24 19:57)

Disappointing, hastily written

I went into this with low expectations to begin with. and I left withthose suspicions confirmed. The movie seemed to be full of a lot ofpointless random scenes that were apparently inserted into the movie togive it an air of believability. In between the pointless stuff therewere a few genuine shock moments, but these were few and far between.The film's conceit of convincing the audience that this was a genuinedocumentary was ruined by the crappy cgi in the final scene,as well asby 2 HUGE plot holes. First, just how did the creatures get into theastronauts' suits without killing them in the process? And 2, just howare we supposed to believe that this movie was made using recoveredfootage when the film would have been obliterated in the finalcatastrophe? Besides, no one believes these fake documentaries anyway.

jamierushden (2012-05-24 08:46)

Effortless

Now I'm not saying that I found this film scary. Because I didn't, andI don't think that's what the directors intended for this film. It hasan original story line, although alien films have been done thousandsof times the idea of bringing them back to earth in that form has neverbeen done. The mockumentary style works well and isn't seen regularlyin film quite yet. The acting is far from bland and seems extremelyrealistic as well as the era setting.Another thing I think is that the cinematography captures theclaustrophobic setting on the moon and you soon come to realize is thatthere is no escaping what is to come. The tension in this film is whatI find best, when I went to the British premiere of this film everybodywas on the edge of their seat due to sly camera work and cleverlighting.The characters are easy to connect to and I think the plot unravelswell throughout the film with what I found and unexpected twist once wefound out what the aliens were.The main fault I found throughout the film is sometimes the sound washard to understand as well as the vocabulary they used, not many of uscan speak astronaut. Also the finale of the film seemed a bit of a letdown after the build up although it is effective.Overall I really did enjoy this film. Definitely worth the watch. 5/5

bungusbeefcake (2012-05-24 03:10)

Bad plot, not thrilling, good visually but thats all.

Apollo 18's plot was terrible, it had a good premise but did not followthrough. The thriller aspect was very lost on me as I didn't feelscared or even have any of those jumpy moments. I've been morefrightened by sneezing unexpectedly. The "reason we haven't returned tothe moon" is unbelievable and stupid. The actors were good with whatlittle plot it had and the landscapes, scenery and props were good andfor these 2 reasons I give it 2 stars. So if you want to waste money and 90 mins of your life then by allmeans go see this film, if however, you prize your existence and do notwish to be bored, un-entertained and a little lighter in your pocketsthen avoid this film as I wish I had!!

ktross (2012-05-23 10:14)

Reasonable idea...average delivery.

I'm not fond of "found fottage films" PA was about the only one to everhit a cord with me and all others have been avoided, however I gave ita shot and while I give it only a 5 it does deserve some recognition inpart.A damned good idea! and overall premise which does what it set out todo. Reasonable characters and pacing, while somewhat predictable story.Solid effects, I cant fault any CGI or practical effects in the filmfor the budget they were given and it was all used sparsley and to goodeffect!There are loads of ways you could tear into this film but.. for a lowbudget film it looks reasonable, moves along well enough and whilenowhere near perfect and definitely not a horror film (thriller wouldbe better) it was worth watching, I would probably watch it again sometime with friends etc.

melapiro (2012-05-23 13:00)

Should have gone to see The Help instead!!

Want to know what Apollo 18 is about? Alien + Blair Witch Project =Apollo 18. Some parts were so ridiculous that I actually laughed outloud. What a complete waste of time! Well, on second thought, maybe nota complete waste - it was good for a laugh or two. I rarely spend moneygoing to a movie in these rough economic times, and this is a primeexample of why. Why spend eight bucks for a disappointment when I canget the same disappointment from a Red Box for a buck? I definitelyshould have read some reviews on this one before going to see it! I dohave my own tastes when it comes to story lines. Just because someoneelse says something is good or bad doesn't necessarily mean I'll agree.However, on this one, trust me. It's bad!

rzajac (2012-05-22 18:39)

Really kind of silly

This was pretty obviously the product of a confab of media folks whohave more budget than vision.I really can see it; they just consulted a list of recent moneymakersubgenres, picked two of them (from a hat?), then retained a hackwriter to knock out a hybrid script.Y'know, there's really not much more you can say, once you've naileddown that essential thing. I guess I could say that it's sad to thinkof folks who've sort of settled into a lifestyle of producing this kindof schlock; they rest comfortable in the knowledge that they can pluginto a system that rewards modest efforts with cash. Of course, thebuck can be reasonably passed to a passive consuming public, whichdoesn't expect its movies to be truly wonderful, let alone trenchant oreven prophetic... or even, really, actually funny.As long as people continue to treat a night out at the movies as atime-killer, we will continue to have movies like Apollo 18.

horton-2 (2012-05-22 06:31)

Some good but the majority is just bad

The acting is actually pretty good they did a great job with thesequences they had. My gripe was the problem most Hollywood movieshave, stupidity. When characters do something stupid over and over whenit's obvious if they didn't do it they wouldn't get in trouble in thefirst place and thus no conflict in the story.The other big problem is it's supposed to feel like stock footage butthey add so many sound effects and even background music with the soundeffect feel that it's incredibly distracting and quite annoying. Whyall the bass effects all the time?The thing I really want to know most though is they can send men to themoon but they can't send them with flashlights? Really?

Rob M (2012-05-21 18:16)

Terrible.

There's nothing about this film worth seeing. The build up takesforever and fails to create a proper atmosphere for horror. The settingis good but the whole "found footage" thing needs to be done toperfection, otherwise it just seems like garbage. And this movie? Rightinto the waste basket.The worst thing about this movie is the absolute let down that thealiens are. Crabs. That's right, they're crabs ... little rock crabthings that apparently evolved on the moon just waiting for a handfulof humans to come along. Now, what did the crabs eat before people gotthere? Who knows. But hey, there were lots of them and they wereperfectly suited to killing humans. The problem? This was a lot likewatching Chucky - at first you're thinking "oh that could be creepy"then you realize it's just a doll ... pick it up and break its headoff. Well? These are just crabs that apparently chill out for most ofthe day in the form of rocks. No joke, that's it ... they're crabs.Crabs evolve on the earth? They're food for humans. Crabs evolve on themoon and suddenly they're highly toxic man eaters ... but ... stillsmall. Oh and the ending? Right ... when the Russian lunar vehicle crashedinto the orbiting ship? Yeah ... so ... how did they get all thissupposed found footage when the cameras were destroyed in space?

lakpierre1 (2012-05-21 19:41)

lack of quality helps "sometimes"

I went to see this movie with my teenage son today. This movie wasoverall decent, but what helped this movie, was absolute quite, themloud, sharp noise with something jumping out. But to me, that can makean OK movie a little better and easier to watch. I will admit, with thelack of great digital cameras and all the different angles of cameraviews not in this movie helped. This was a "paranormal activity/Blairwitch" movie that put you in the seat of wanting to see more of thedark screen with action taking place. The few horror scenes did havedecent to good special effects, but could have used a little more, andmove digital surround sound with heavy NASA machines. This movie doesalways keep you guessing and does have some surprises around a few ofit's corners...Worth watching, but could be just as enjoyed at homewith cheaper popcorn and coke/candy...

Kristine (2012-05-21 08:22)

Slap to the face

Over the past few years it seems like the "lost footage" films are justgetting more and more popular. I think because Paranormal Activity hadperfected it, a lot of horror movies are copying off it. I do and Idon't like it, the thing I like is that the look is authentic and yousee it through the eyes of the victim, so you feel like you're in theirshoes. But the thing I don't like is between the shaky cam effect thatcould be a bit dizzy is also that you don't get a good look ateverything and on top of everything you're bound to get an ending thatis usually lame because they're trying to sell that what you're seeingis real. What's one of the scariest places that you could imagine beingin? Outer space! Like the tagline of Alien said, in outer space no onecan hear you scream. There's no help and you're thousands of miles awayfrom home. Man has not been to the moon for decades and this was aninteresting way of saying why, even if it's fake, it's a great horrormovie concept, but does fall a bit flat.In 1974, the crew of the previously-canceled Apollo 18 mission isinformed that the mission is a go, though it has now been deemed a topsecret Department of Defense mission. Commander Nate Walker, LieutenantJohn Grey and Captain BenAnderson are launched towards the Moon toplace detectors to alert the United States of any impending ICBMattacks from the USSR. Grey remains in orbit aboard the FreedomCommand/Service module while Walker and Anderson land on the moon inthe lunar module Liberty. While planting one of the detectors, the pairtake samples of moon rocks. While attempting to sleep, the pair hearnoises outside and a camera captures a small rock moving nearby.Houston claims the noises are interference from the ICBM detectors.They go exploring and find another module from Russia. Wondering wherethe cosmonaut is, they find him dead. Later on they are attacked bylittle bug like creatures and find out that this may be a mission thatwas never intended for them to survive. Now it's a struggle as there isno one to help them in space and the bugs are taking over their bodies.The really come a bit late and the film is a bit slow. Not tocompletely dismiss it as I said, it's a great idea for a scary movie.It really gave me the feeling that the men were so isolated and howhorrifying it must have been for them. The whole setting and atmospheredid feel real and they did a great job of making you believe you werein space. However, since the characters are a bit under developed, Ireally didn't care too much about them. Not to get personal, but itdidn't help that the two leads had my ex's names, lol. Since the filmstarts off slow and the action doesn't build up till the end, rightwhen you're wanting more, of course that's where they leave the movieand you have to work to find out what happens next. The Blair WitchProject, Cloverfield, Cannibal Holocaust and Paranormal Activity did agreat job with the "lost footage" effect, the rest so far have justbeen a horrible attempt to make a quick buck and unfortunately it'sworking.5/10

dbborroughs (2012-05-20 17:30)

If this had been shorter this would have been better

Supposed film footage of a secret and disastrous last Apollo mission tothe moon. The idea is that men were sent to the moon in order to placemissile tracking material on the moon in case the Soviets launched anattack. Unfortunately there was something on the moon.Yet another in the ever growing list of found footage films. Neither asbad as most nor as good as others this film is an okay exercise in thegenre. Working best when the film manages to present footage that seemsreal, the film only loses its way when we get long sequences ofexposition that seem to have been inserted as filler. I really thinkthat had this film been shorter, say by half an hour you would have hada truly scary film. Unfortunately right now you have a film that onlyreally works in fits and starts.I like it more as an idea, rather than in actuality, however I do thinkit's worth catching on Netflix or cable.

BakuryuuTyranno (2012-05-20 01:51)

Bad execution

Hollywood rarely makes mature horror films - the kind with heavyatmosphere, characters you care about, etc. The kind genre fans wouldfind much more satisfying than the films relying on excessive gore,jump scares etc Well, they had good intentions with this one. Unfortunately, I can'tremember anything about the characters and their attempts at abackstory involved playing a fake home movie of one with his family.Not much investment in these people, then. The atmosphere doesn't work either. Well, the moon environment is kindaspooky but unfortunately its also beautiful, therefore, its difficultto be unnerved by it. My rating might be generous, maybe, but with Hollywood rarelyattempting films aimed at genre fans I appreciate the effort, though itfalls flat.

bryce brown (2012-05-19 06:13)

ehh

The main reason I saw this was because I convinced my friend who I sawthis with that it was real.And other than plain over-used tactics toscare the audience,dull antagonists(Rock spiders that oddly can breathin space with no air)and terrible ending, the film could have beenpretty good with a good concept and great performances by the cast. Butit has a dull beginning not grabbing your attention, weak buildingpoint but still maintained to be interesting when wanting to know whathappens next, then the climax picks up everything with some intensenail-biting moments and then the ending just lets you down. So over alli would say good concept but don't like the way they went about it,goodjob for 5 million dollar budget and well ya it's just awful just don'tsee it.

DICK STEEL (2012-05-18 19:52)

A Nutshell Review: Apollo 18

Just when you thought the found footage science fiction and horrorsubgenre would finally run out of steam with every possible story beingtold, here comes another that's set in the final frontier of space, andI admit it's kinda clever for writers Cory Goodman and Brian Miller toutilize this device in a conspiracy theory type story that deals withwhy there are no longer any more missions to put man on the moon again,barring budget constraints, with no lack of volunteers and astronautson payroll.From the Blair Witch project involving discovered footage from acamera, there have been wannabes and variants, with some of the mostnotable being The Last Exorcism with a documentary crew following theirsubject for some investigative journalism, in the same way REC did it,and from Cloverfield's monster movie to the Paranormal Activity filmswhich combine both the moving home camera with the static ones fromCCTVs. After all from a movie making perspective most of these filmsare completed on a shoe-string budget and become profitable at the boxoffice, and the challenge here is to create some original ideas tofurther milk this genre before they all truly run out and remakes arecalled into play.Apollo 18 takes one of the cancelled missions of NASA and gives acontroversial, conspiracy type spin to why the crew never made it tothe Moon, by suggesting that the crew actually did so, but a massivecover up put a lid on what had transpired, with official recordsfabricated to hide the truth from the public. The premise is smart, butthe delivery left much to be desired, despite superb production sets torecreate the look and feel of lunar landing and command modules bothfrom the outside and within, those retro looking space suits, and thenear zero gravity experience within the space crafts and during thosemoon walks.One of the chief issues here is that we never really got to know thecrew involved so as to provide that little bit of an emotional anchorto feel for them when things go wrong. Granted this is not Apollo 13and neither was the bandwidth given for this to clock more than 90minutes, but its runtime really felt excruciatingly slow given thatmost of the time, nothing significant happens, saving almost everythingfor last, and throwing the audience a couple of cheap scares every nowand then. The most we get to know of the Apollo 18 crew was that theyreally liked their barbecue gatherings, and being called to finally getup there to the moon, in a mission sponsored by the Department ofDefense, was a real honour, never mind if their project is more topsecret and classified involving what they thought was installingcameras and sensors to detect Russian ICBM launches; cold war era,remember?By staying true to that era and the plot that the footage is real andfound, we get a lot of grainy, full screen presentation with plenty ofstatic, quick cuts (edited by the filmmaker from the hours of rawmaterial it was claimed) to highlight that sense of dread and urgencyin staying alive when all else seemed to have abandoned them and themission. The lack of stronger character development made it a littledifficult to empathize with the characters when they face a brick wallin communications and with a mission threatening to go haywire, madeworst when there is something else quite hostile in their midst, andcontributing to a systemic failure of equipment and people. They becomethe inevitable fodder, though one is limited to only the crew ratherthan to have a mindless bloodbath just because it is possible.Still, don't let this faux pas found footage film put you off from theglee of partaking in a conspiracy theory especially if space missionsare up your alley, and meanwhile, let me look for my lunar rock andtoss it out the window.

aerose23 (2012-05-18 09:42)

Attack of the Moon Spiders

I went into this hoping it would be so terrible that it would be funny,but it was just sad. I'm sort of an Apollo nerd, so I was looking at alot of the specifics. Although the spacecraft were accurate and lookedgreat, I was disappointed right away when they lifted the script forthe landing sequence right from the transcript of the Apollo 11landing. Really? And then when the LMP finds the abandoned Russian LK(which I was pleasantly surprised when seeing it was historicallyaccurate), he magically knew how to operate it because their "systemsare similar to ours." Please.The premise of the story was cool, though. I'm fascinated by thesetypes of films where the characters are completely cut off. Just wishit would have been a little better written and better financed, andthat the beginning hadn't been so rushed. They could have at least hada scene where they were being briefed by the DoD or whatever, andhaving their cargo loaded to the Saturn V so we could establish whatthey were doing. This didn't really live up to the hype from thetrailers.

FredLL1950 (2012-05-18 00:46)

Just What I Expected!

Today (Sunday, Sept. 4), I was contemplating going to see Apollo 18.But first I read the reviews here. Upon seeing so many negative onesand so few positive ones, I knew I wanted to see it for sure since Iliked The Blair Witch Project and both Paranormal Activity movies. Thatbeing said, it was just about what I expected and I liked it a lot. Itcould have been better, but I wasn't disappointed. I thought the castwas very good. So if you liked previous "found or leaked footage"movies such as Blair Witch Project or the Paranormal Activity movies,don't miss this one! If you're not sure, wait until it comes out on DVDand rent it at Redbox for $1. It's worth a lot more than that!

Film Watchin Fool (2012-05-17 04:13)

You Might Get Bored Out There

Watch this if...you are a sci-fi fan, but don't expect it to provideany horror or scares. Even then, it is an average sci-fi film.Acting/Casting: 7* - This is the bright spot of the movie, but that isusually the case with this genre of film. All actors are relatively nonamers, but do a fantastic job playing their roles.Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 6* - The film does a really nicejob of making you think they are on the Moon, but not much else. Asusual with these types of films, the camera work is shaky and a bitaggravating. I will also say that they did a nice job of keeping theaudience guessing by not giving too much away.Plot/Characters: 4* - The "it's true, but it's not really true" filmshave really been worn out and this may be the worst of the bunch. Ithas taken a concept done many times over and applied it to a NASAmission to the Moon. If you have seen Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity,Open Water, etc., then just apply that concept to a mission to theMoon.Entertainment Value: 5* - While the movie was intriguing, I wouldn'tcall it extremely entertaining. There are quite a few dull moments andvery few worthwhile moments to counteract those. Watch at your ownrisk.My Score: 7+6+4+5 = 22/4 = 5.5

drew_atreides (2012-05-16 20:00)

A surprisingly effective slow-burn...

Have to admit i've been excited about the concept of this movie since iread about it about 7 months back... However, i also have to admitthat, given it's release date, I was a bit worried that it would windup a stinker...I went in with adjusted expectations, wanting to enjoy it but alsopreparing for the worst..I'm happy to say that it winds up a pretty effective little conspiracy-theory chiller..The producers really do a great job of building tension in thiscloseted, isolated atmosphere, to an agonizing crescendo and thendelivering with some truly horrific imagery.Really wound up liking this one.