Moontrap (1989)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Robert Dyke

Writer:

Tex Ragsdale (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 June 1989 (West Germany)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

For fourteen thousand years... It waited.

Plot:

The Space Shuttle returns to earth, but some of the equipment brought back on it begins to behave strangely...

Plot Keywords:

Space | Space Shuttle | Alien | Alien Invasion | Cyborg

Cast

Walter Koenig	...	Col. Jason Grant
Bruce Campbell	...	Ray Tanner
Leigh Lombardi	...	Mera
Robert Kurcz	...	Koreman
John J. Saunders	...	Barnes
Reavis Graham	...	Haskell
Tom Case	...	Beck
Judy Levitt	...	Intrepid Commander
Reuben Yabuku	...	Intrepid Pilot
Doug Childs	...	Grant's Son
Mariafae Mytnyk	...	Research Assistant
James A. Courtney	...	Lieutenant (as James Courtney)
Tony Abruzzo	...	Soldier #1
Tom Whalen	...	Soldier #2
Pat Carozzo	...	Waitress

Runtime:

USA:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | USA:R | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Troy, Michigan, USA

Company:

Magic Films

Trivia:

Because the "moondust" was actually quick-set concrete powder, there was always a sign at the set proclaiming "No Liquids!"

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end the full Moon is seen against a dusk sky, which is impossible.

Quotes:

Col. Jason Grant: Oh, Christ. That's what we are - spare parts.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Virus (1999)

Soundtrack:

Gotta Get Next to You

Space Slasher Film

Wacky, gory, and strangely humorous, "Moontrap" is one of those low budget films that forces its way into your heart. You just can't help but watch all of "Moontrap" once you accidentally run into it when channel surfing. Cheesy, and almost parodoxial of contemporary space action movies, "Moontrap" plays out into a required viewing B-movie for any one remotely interested in sci-fi. The plot is simple and standard issue: Walter Koenig is Col. Jason Grant (a.k.a., Pavel Chekov), a single-parent, astronaut burn-out who brings home an alien artifact. When NASA's computers find out that hostile alien life originated in the Moon's Prometheus Crater, Col. Grant is sent with a special team to eliminate an army of football-shaped alien eggs in stasis. One can pretty much guess what happens, and this basically makes "Moontrap" a space slasher film. All in all an incredibly stupid film, but well worth viewing. Very similar to "Virus" in some respects.