Apparently, frightening alien fun wasn’t on the minds of audiences this Labor Day Weekend. Although most would say “Apollo 18″ barely even lifted off at the box office, it would be untrue. The movie was made for around $5 million and grossed $8.9 million in its first few days. As little as that seems when comparing it to other films, it was a success. However, money isn’t everything. What’s important is how critics and moviegoers reacted to the movie.
Critics were completely unimpressed with “Apollo 18.” Eric D. Snider from Film.com wrote, “The source of the creepy events is profoundly dull, like a forgettable episode of ‘The X-Files’ or ‘Fringe.’” Los Angeles Times’ Mark Olsen stated, “The film takes a long time to rev up, and even at less than 90 minutes feels thin and at moments like it is playing for time.” Susan Granger of SSG Syndicate reported, “It’s a tedious faux documentary, filled with schlocky sound-effects and jarring cuts, utilizing TV actors masquerading as astronauts.”
A few reviewers gave “Apollo 18″ a happy send-off. Glenn Lovell of CinemaDope commented, “One giant leap for Big Brother… scruffy, seat-of-the-pants filmmaking. The kind of thing you don’t see much any more… could do for Lopez-Gallego what ‘Dark Star’ did for John Carpenter.” E! Online’s Luke Y. Thompson related, “The suspense works, and the obligatory sequel hook genuinely intrigues us with its possibilities rather than merely threatening a retread.” Kevin McCarthy of BDK Reviews wrote, “‘Apollo 18′ is a surprisingly intense, innovative and well-directed flick that made me jump out of my seat more than a few times!
Audiences couldn’t have disagreed more with the majority of critics. Louie B. said, “‘Apollo 18′ had me enjoying the tense moments in the film. The different ways of showing what was happening subtly with the cameras made me feel on edge.’ Asa M. declared, “I didn’t find this movie boring in the least… it was really engaging and exciting, scary when it was supposed to be, and claustrophobic.” Marcel T. remarked, “‘Apollo 18′ is a slow building, classically paced, sci-fi isolation horror film that packs a good amount of scares… the acting is spot on, the sound design appropriately terrifying and the production value extraordinary for such a film.”
There were still those people who found “Apollo 18″ uninspiring. Todd S. wrote, “The actors have no dialogue outside of their work… we know nothing about them, so there is no connection with the audience. The dialogue is bland, the effects are cheap, and the cinematography makes you want to vomit… not worth one minute of your time.” Foxy C. complained, “Don’t waste your money. The ‘horror’ part of the movie was cheesy. Be sure to take Dramamine prior to seeing this… the shaky camera style made me carsick. I wasn’t sure if it was the shaky camera or the horrible horror premise of this film that made me feel sick.”
Family Entertainment website Movieguide.org reported, “‘Apollo 18′ is a revolting horror show about a secret military mission to the moon to learn more about aliens that attacked an equally secret Russian moon landing. It progresses from being boring to being sickening and is marred by its anti-American premise, vulgarity and gross flesh-infesting creatures.”
Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego directed “Apollo 18.” It stars Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, and Ryan Robbins. The movie is rated PG-13 for some disturbing sequences, and language. It was released through The Weinstein Company on September 2, 2011.
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Eric Shirey is the founder and editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. He also served as a news reporter for the award winning movie website GordonandtheWhale.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo! Movies, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! TV, Associated Content from Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other national entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with iconic movie and TV actors like Harrison Ford, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brooke Shields, Brendan Fraser, Gene Simmons, and many more. His personal website is www.ersink.com.