Apollo 18(2011)

The film opens with a statement about the Apollo 11 landing on July 20, 1969. It is followed by another indicating that Apollo 18, 19, and 20 would be canceled due to budget constraints. Apollo 17 was the last official moon landing.

A statement appears indicating that over 40 hours of footage from a secret mission to the moon were discovered in 2011.

Movie footage shows a picnic involving a group of astronauts and their families. It is followed by footage of three astronauts being briefed on their mission as they are being readied for their launch. They are told the mission is top secret and would be handled by the Department of Defense. The astronauts are enthusiastic about the mission even if they must keep it secret. The crew includes Lt Col Tom Grey, Service Module Pilot; Commander Nathan “Nate” Walker, Mission Commander; and Capt Benjamin Anderson, Lunar Module Pilot. The crew is briefed on their package, a group of PSD5 monitoring boxes that will be set up and used to monitor Soviet activity. The units are marked with DOD labels and have antennas attached. Several cameras are shown that the crew will use to document their status. Footage shows a night launch followed by scenes of the moon. Apollo 18’s Service Module is nicknamed Freedom, while the Lunar Lander is called Liberty.

The footage jumps to day 4 as Freedom approaches the moon; Nate and Ben are shown in the Lunar Lander going through the steps needed for landing. Tom monitors their progress and reports to Houston on their status. The landing is hard, but the crew is excited about being the next men to land on the moon. They suit up and proceed outside, setting up the PSD5 units, planting the flag, and marveling at the view. The landing site is mentioned to be on the lunar polar cap and is far from the previous landings. The crew returns to the LM and talks about the events. They listen to music, and Ben plays a message from his son Brian and his wife. Ben and Nate sleep, Ben wakes and hears snoring, he speaks to the camera about how Nate’s snoring and is startled by Nate.

Day 5 of the mission. Ben mentions that a rock sample he collected is missing and asks Nate about it. There is some slight tension, but both realize they have work to do. Outside they discover footprints that don’t match their own, they follow them to find a set of erratic prints and begin to question what is going on. They use the lunar rover after finding the trail again, after stopping at a crater Nate walks up and tells Ben to come see what he sees. At the bottom of the crater is another spacecraft. Ben and Nate recognize it as a Soviet LK lunar lander. They find debris around the ship, including a Soviet flag. They look inside the LK to find that no one is on board and that the ship’s interior is damaged but in working order. They then find blood inside the ship and decide to explore further to see if the Cosmonaut is nearby. They walk into a cave and notice a sudden drop in temperature, using a strobe they search the cave and are shocked to find the dead body of the Cosmonaut along with his smashed helmet.

The crew returns to the Liberty and reports the discovery of the Soviet lander 2 kilometers from their ship. Their DOD contact informs them that the Soviets can’t have landed. Onboard the Freedom, Tom speaks to the camera and reports feeling uncomfortable as if he is being watched by something on the surface.

As the crew sleeps, the Cosmonaut’s helmet falls and startles Tom and Nate. The Westinghouse camera setup outside fails, and the crew notices that the flag they planted is missing. Nate and Ben speak to the DOD contact, who informs them that the Soviet launch may have been possible but is uncertain. They speculate the Soviets hid the launch under the guise of a routine satellite launch mission. The DOD contact informs them that their mission is complete and they can come home. As they prepare for launch, another camera fails, and the ship is rocked by something that forces them to abort the launch. They notice the lunar rover is on its side, and they can’t communicate with Freedom or Houston without the help of its S-band Antenna. Nate goes outside to check on the damage to the LM and right the Rover. After checking the antenna, he finds many strange tracks and severe damage to the Liberty’s exterior. Nate speaks of their mission and dealing with an extra-terrestrial of unknown origin. Nate notices something moving toward him and yells that his suit has been penetrated; Ben sees him struggle and sees something crawling inside Nate’s helmet. Ben finds Nate unconscious and takes him back inside the Liberty. Nate tells him that he can’t remember what happened but says he feels fine. The crew can’t communicate with Freedom and suspect the PSD5’s are blocking their messages.

Ben asks Nate what happened to the creature that tore into his suit, but he can’t recall what happened. Ben notices Nate is bleeding from a wound on the left side of his chest. Ben notices something is under the skin and uses a pair of forceps to remove a piece of moon rock. It suddenly jumps from the forceps and causes havoc until Nate smashes it with a rock hammer. Ben destroys the PSD5 units with Nate’s help thinking they are really meant to track the creatures they encountered, that night as they sleep something moves in front of the camera inside the Liberty. The next day, Ben notices Nate’s wound is infected, and he is looking worse. Nate tells him that he should stay behind because he is contaminated and will probably die. Hours later, Ben talks to the camera about his fears and is surprised by the blood that falls on him coming from the hammock above him. Nate’s wound is getting worse, and his eyes are entirely bloodshot. As Ben sleeps, Nate stares at him, not noticing something crawling inside the cabin. Nate then proceeds to smash all the cameras and interior. This damages the Liberty and renders it unfit for survival.

Freedom tries to communicate with Liberty, knowing they are running low on air and supplies. Ben gets Nate and himself suited up and leaves the damaged lander. Driving away, he has trouble keeping Nate in the rover until Nate reacts to what he says are things moving toward them. The rover is wrecked beyond repair, forcing Ben to leave a crazed Nate behind. He uses the strobe to light his way and sees what appear to be rocks moving toward him, looking like spiders. He proceeds to the Soviet LK lander and enters the craft. He recalls Nate telling him the systems are similar to their lander, so he should be able to launch into orbit and rendezvous with Freedom. As he is about to liftoff, he sees Nate outside telling him he can’t leave. Nate begins to smash the window with his hammer, but dozens of spider-like creatures are in his helmet, and they kill him.

Ben uses the radio to try to communicate back home but gets a Russian-speaking technician. A few moments later, he is surprised to hear his DOD contact speak to him, informing him that he can’t return and will be remembered as a hero. This betrayal angers Ben, and he plays his cassette recording of his son and wife to comfort him. Onboard Freedom John uses his VHF radio to communicate with Ben, he tells him that he is waiting for him and that he will need to pilot the LK near Freedom and conduct an EVA to transfer on board. Ben tells John that Nate is dead and that the DOD and Soviets knew there was something on the moon. John gets a message ordering him not to rescue Ben as he is contaminated and will be dead soon. John refuses to comply and proceeds with the rescue. Ben activates the LK’s launch sequence and blasts off the moon. He makes it into orbit yet is surprised to see dozens of moon rocks surrounding and attacking him. John tells Ben he is moving too fast as the LK crashes into the Freedom.
The next scene is a montage of the crew during the picnic shown at the beginning, followed by statements indicating what the families were told happened to the crew.

• Lt Col. John Grey was killed in a training accident near Tallahassee, Florida.
• Commander Nathan Walker was killed in an F-14 crash near Kadena AFB, Japan.
• Captain Benjamin Anderson was killed near the South China Sea.

A statement follows stating that over 800 lbs of moon rocks were brought back to Earth. Many of these were given as gifts to dignitaries worldwide. A number of them are now missing.

End Credits roll…