"Star Trek" The Devil in the Dark (1967)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Joseph Pevney

Writers:

Gene L. Coon (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

9 March 1967 (Season 1, Episode 25)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Enterprise is sent to a mining colony that is being terrorized by a mysterious monster.

Plot Keywords:

Federation | Space | Starship | Computer | Vulcan

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Ken Lynch	...	Vanderberg
James Doohan	...	Scott
Brad Weston	...	Appel
Biff Elliot	...	Schmitter
George Allen	...	Engineer #1 (as George E. Allen)
Jon Cavett	...	Guard
Barry Russo	...	Giotto

Runtime:

50 min | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

The Horta was a re-design of the large microbe from the final episode of the original "Outer Limits" titled "The Probe".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kirk and the Horta have squared off against each other, and Spock enters, there's a two-angle back-and-forth. When the camera is directly at Kirk, he is kneeling with a phaser in his right hand. When the angle switches to Kirk at left, Spock far center, Kirk is kneeling but with a communicator in his left hand. The change goes back and forth a couple of times.

Quotes:

[McCoy has just "bandaged" the Horta]
Captain James T. Kirk: Well, Mr. Spock, I'm going to have to ask you to get in touch with the Horta again. Tell her our proposition: She and her children can do all the tunneling they want, our people will remove the minerals, and each side will leave the other alone. Do you think she'll go for it?
Mr. Spock: It seems logical, Captain. The Horta has a very logical mind. And after close association with humans, I find that curiously refreshing.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier (2007) (TV)

Fine plot, bad monster even for a TV show...

I'd rate this as a good Star Trek thanks to the typically literate plot, and of course great cast as always, but the execution of the monster is really sub-par even for TV shows from this time. It was great watching as a kid when first televised, but then we thought every episode of Lost in Space was great too.

In fact the monster here is just too reminiscent of that other show, and really too much like the infamous creature in The Creeping Terror. I really think someone like Stan Winston would have done a much better job even with the same basic creature design. And those silicon eggs!? At least they could have had a textured surface, not perfectly smooth and shiny like a kid's play-ball or balloon. Well, even Star Trek has blunders. Other than this, a fine episode.