Apollo 18

Movie: Apollo 18

Genre: thriller

Synopsis: The premise is that Apollo 17 was not the last Apollo mission.  There was a top-secret Apollo 18 that made it to the moon.  When they got there, they discovered what would become the basis of the catch-phrase “there is a reason we never went back”.

My two cents: This movie has gotten pretty crappy reviews . . . but I liked it.  The big stumbling block is believing that - with all the hundreds, if not thousands, of people on the ground involved with an Apollo mission – it has taken over 35 years for anything to be leaked about it to the public. Once I got past that, it was kind of fun.  A number of real goose-bump moments; such as when the two astronauts in the lunar module look out their window and discover that the flag they planted is no longer there, or when they discover footprints.  I think this was much better than the critics and a lot of viewers) have given it credit for.

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Creature

Movie: Creature

Genre: horror

Synopsis: The “Creature” is a man-alligator that haunts the swamps near a small Louisiana community.  Three young couples who are just “passing through” learn about the “legend” of this creature and decide to visit the house where the man who supposedly became the creature used to live.  Many, many bad things follow.

My two cents: A pretty typical “wrong turn” type of movie – with an alligator twist.  The actor I most enjoyed watching was Sid Haig – who played his typical really-evil type of character (you may remember him as one of the scariest clowns ever in “The Devil’s Rejects”).  An example of the stuff that just drives me crazy with this type of movie: these six people just suddenly decide that they are going to hike through an unknown backwoods swamp area and camp there overnight – but no one even has a flashlight.  If you are into this genre you would probably like it.  If you are not a big fan of this genre, definitely give this a pass.

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