Apollo 18
Dimension Films | Release Date: September 2, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
24
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
5
Negative:
13
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 2, 2011
Many will find Apollo 18 silly and derivative. It is. Yet it's also a break from the usual hyperbolic, down-your-throat brand of silly and derivative scare movies. Read full review
60
EmpireKim NewmanSep 5, 2011
Blair Witch with moon rock. Paranormal Activity in space. Contrived, but if you can take one more variant on the formula, it's got its moments. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesSep 8, 2011
The real tension of the piece lies in the sound design, with its layering of heavy breaths, inexplicably compromised frequencies, and invasive thwackings of no known origin to the ship hull. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderBen SachsSep 8, 2011
This isn't at all scary, but the rough images can be weirdly compelling, the movie's conspiratorial jive enhanced by the fact that the lunar surface looks like someone's backyard. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenSep 3, 2011
Even if Apollo 18 is not exactly as it presents itself to be, it is less of a stunt than a low-key and unassuming film of rising tension rather than big scares or wild shocks. Read full review
40
VarietyJoe LeydonSep 2, 2011
Despite stretches of skillfully sustained suspense, Apollo 18 ultimately comes across as little more than a modestly clever stunt. Read full review
38
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreSep 7, 2011
Whatever merits the production values have, the cheap frights don't deliver, the performers bring no pathos and the gimmick behind Apollo 18 flat out does not work. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeJoel BrownSep 3, 2011
Contains nothing original or over-the-top enough to make it a real scream fest. For most horror fans it will be kind of a snooze. Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyKeith StaskiewiczSep 2, 2011
Apollo 18 fails to stay with you because, like the cratered satellite on which it's set, it has no atmosphere. Read full review
30
MovielineAlison WillmoreSep 3, 2011
To describe what unfolds as a slow burn is to be awfully generous. Read full review
30
Village VoiceNick SchagerSep 3, 2011
His (Gonzalo López-Gallego) this-is-authentic conceit is by now a tediously corny device, and his story delivers no scares during the interminably long, uneventful build-up to its deflating climax. Read full review
30
The New York TimesMike HaleSep 3, 2011
A drab combination of science-fiction horror film and conspiracy thriller, accomplishes something the world wasn't really crying out for: it recreates the tedium of watching the later Apollo missions. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckSep 2, 2011
Not only is this film's form clichéd, so is its content. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineChuck BowenSep 6, 2011
A nasty, cleverly revealed monster might have redeemed some of the monotony of the first (seemingly endless) hour, but the beasty here manages to be ludicrous, dull, and unoriginal somehow all at once, compromising the marginal hope you may have been holding out for the film. Read full review
20
Time OutBen KenigsbergSep 2, 2011
All Apollo 18 has to offer is endless radio crackle and visual incoherence. And what's out there, tormenting the astronauts? The answer is dumber than a box of moon rocks. Read full review
20
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoSep 2, 2011
Apollo 18 is a drab horror that tries to plant fears about untrustworthy authority (Nixon, NASA, etc) that are as stale as a freeze-dried peas. Read full review
10
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinSep 4, 2011
Apollo 18, isn't egregiously inept. It just never lives. It's 80 minutes of dead air. Read full review
0
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsSep 2, 2011
Unpleasant when it isn't dull, Apollo 18 never sells the lost-footage illusion, and never compensates for it with scares. Jolts, sure. Like so many lazy horror directors, López-Gallego knows how to startle, but not how to frighten. Read full review
0
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 2, 2011
Has no thrills, no chills, no scares and contains a villain, or several of them, actually, that will turn you to stone -- from boredom. Read full review
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