Apollo 18 came out during a found footage horror renaissance in 2011. With many critics comparing it to a wannabe Paranormal Activity, the Dimension Films sci-fi was unfortunately slammed. However, Apollo 18 is arguably one of the most frightening space movies of the 21st century so far. After all, who else is daring enough to begin a movie claiming that NASA had a classified, failed moon mission? Given the complex nature of the public’s knowledge of the American government, we most likely don’t know everything about past moon missions. 

In true based-on-actual-events fashion, Apollo 18 begins with a chilling premise: two astronauts were sent to the moon following the last known mission, Apollo 17, by the U.S. Department of Defense. The moments shown are labeled as “actual footage” taken by the two crew members, yet NASA denies its authenticity. Since then, we’ve never gone back to the moon. 

In 1974, Commander Nathan Walker (Lloyd Owen) and Captain Ben Anderson (Warren Christie) touch down on the South Pole of the moon while Lieutenant John Grey (Ryan Robbins) remains in orbit above them. As Ben and Nate collect samples and explore the moon’s surface, strange occurrences unfold. From moving rocks to unexplained human footprints, the two quickly find themselves in a frightening situation more than 200,000 miles away from earth in the one place where no other human can hear a scream: space. 

Clearly, NASA did not cover up a failed mission about space aliens and endangered astronauts. However, the cast and crew kept the momentum going to promote the film, claiming that this really was found footage and not a Hollywood-ized project. In other words, they really embraced the world of their story. 

Apollo 18 succeeds in offering several jump scares and also slow, eerie build-ups — the perfect mix for a movie. And to top it all off, zero gravity allows even more leeway in jolting an audience; having zero control over your surroundings is the ultimate fear. 

From Nate abruptly getting dragged into a crater to the alarming moment when he realizes “something is inside [his] suit,” the thriller thrives on abrupt chills. And, of course, the unexplainable moving rocks create a crawl-worthy experience for the audience. However, the editing was Apollo 18’s strongest weapon because without it, some horror fans wouldn’t be afraid. They might think about the weird, funny crawling rocks in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which would be a failure for a space horror flick. But Apollo 18 uses quick cuts and takes to provide that sense of an unseen aftermath — where did the moving rock just go? Is it watching them sleep? How many more are there? All of these questions quickly flood a viewer’s mind, and they’re forced to catch up with the movie once the next short scene begins.