Apollo 18: Cool concept, boring film

According to official reports, the last mission to the moon by the United States was Apollo 17. But the recent discovery of footage of classified mission following 17 shows that United States astronauts returned to the moon, and came across something that guaranteed we would never go back.

The parade of found footage/documentary style horror films continues (thanks Netflix for sending me this one (he says sarcastically)) with Apollo 18. And while it suffered from the same lack of character development and sustainable plot/story as The Devil Inside, it featured a number of truly terrifying moments which were amplified by the director's use of the desolate landscape and isolated atmosphere of the moon. It's true that the audience never really got to know the astronauts (to be perfectly honest, each of them had the personality of a wet rag), and perhaps if there were some kind of conflict between Nate, Ben and John the story might have been more interesting, but at least when creepy things started happening on the moon's surface it was easy to get the prickly sensations going up and down one's spine and start to wonder just what kind of fate was waiting for the men of the Apollo 18 mission. These few tense moments were the only things that made the film somewhat watchable.

The atmosphere and look of Apollo 18 certainly helped to make its scares all the more frightening, it's just too bad its story and characters failed to add any value to the film as a whole. 

Grade: D+

The Devil Inside: Save yourself some time and go rent The Exorcist

Four years after her mother killed three clergy people, Isabella travels to Italy to visit her. She is convinced that her mother's actions were not her own four years ago and, with the help of two young priests, she hopes to cure her.

Fashioning itself in the same vein as other recent horror films such as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, The Devil Inside presented its story with a documentary/found footage feeling that was meant to keep the audience on edge, wondering if what they were watching was staged or perhaps real. There were points in the film where what was happening to Isabella, Ben and the other characters could certainly make the audience jump, squirm or just shift around in their chair for it was unnerving and disturbing but the filmmakers failed to develop the story into anything more than a series of random scares. They raised the question of, is exorcism real or just mental illness but never bothered to explore it further and fold that into Isabella's quest to understand her mother's condition. Then there was the ending, which was wholly unsatisfying and seemed extremely lazy on the part of director William Brent Bell.

Ultimately, The Devil Inside was nothing more than a schlocky, exploitative horror film that did little more than utilize all the things previously seen in other "exorcism" films (i.e. women tied to beds, speaking in tongues and saying things that would make most sailors blush) without ever distinguishing itself from them. 

Grade: D

Paranormal Activity 2: Scary. Yes, it's actually scary.

Dan and Kristi have just welcomed a new baby boy named Hunter into their house. Along with Ali, Dan’s daughter from a previous marriage, and their dog Abby, everything seems wonderful. But when unexplained events start happening in the household, the family must deal with the supernatural forces that are vexing them.

When people hear, “horror film sequel,” they no doubt have visions of Friday the 13th Part 8 or Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5, films that have iconic characters as their villains, but lack in storytelling or even continuity story - wise. In fact, horror sequels such as the ones previously mentioned seem to only be concerned with reusing the same plot devices and storylines (sprinkled with excessive gore and nudity of course). That is why Paranormal Activity 2 was something of a surprise for it was a horror film sequel that not only acknowledged the first Paranormal Activity, but surpassed its predecessor in both scares and story. From the start, director Tod Williams was able to keep the audience both on the edge of their seat and squirming with uneasiness while on that edge for he slowly built the tension in the beginning of the film via subtle knocks and bumps that the family laughed away at first. As the film (whose story cleverly tied to the first in an unexpected surprise) unfurled, the thrills and scares intensified, culminating in an ending that was both startling and disturbing. Another welcome change to this sequel was the lack of gore and blood used to evoke the scares. Williams used those creepy sounds and subtle incidents to make the audience’s imagination fill in the horrifying blanks of what was happening to the family.

You want scary, pick up Paranormal Activity 2. But you might want to think twice before watching it alone.

Grade: B