The Dark Side of the Moon (1990)

In 2022, a repair crew is sent to fix an orbital weapon but their spaceship malfunctions and ends up heading towards the dark side of the moon. There, in a mysterious, seemingly abandoned space shuttle, a sinister force lies in wait.

Director:

D.J. Webster

Writers:

Carey W. Hayes (as Carey Hayes), Chad Hayes

Stars:

Robert Sampson, Will Bledsoe, Joe Turkel

Cast

Cast overview:
Robert Sampson	...	Flynn Harding
Will Bledsoe	...	Giles Stewart
Joe Turkel	...	Paxton Warner
Camilla More	...	Lesli
John Diehl	...	Philip Jennings
Wendy MacDonald	...	Alex McInny
Alan Blumenfeld	...	Dreyfuss Steiner
Ken Lesco	...	Michael C. Gotier (as Kenneth R. Lesco)

Storyline

It is the year 2022. A mysterious systems failure causes the crew of a spaceship to be stranded on the dark side of the moon, while rapidly running out of fuel and oxygen. They are surprised to discover a NASA space shuttle floating in space, and board it in the hope of salvaging some supplies. One by one, the crew is possessed and killed, and it is up to Paxton Warner to find the links between the dark side of the moon, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Devil himself.

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Plot Keywords:

coma | moon | spaceship | devil | demonic possession | 

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Taglines:

Beyond Rescue ... Beyond Reason ... Beyond Salvation

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 May 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

666 il triangolo maledetto

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wildstreet Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Movie was filmed between February 15 and March 25 of 1989, and some re-shoots were filmed between August 8 and 11 of same year.

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Goofs

Lesli the android/computer refers to "The Holy Bible. The Book of Revelations." It is in fact, the "Book of Revelation" (singular).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: The year, 2022. The maintenance ship SPACECORE 1 is on a routine "refab" mission. The refabs are fixers. Their purpose is to repair nuclear-armed satellites orbiting high above the earth. Due to the atomic capabilities of these satellites, refabbing is considered dangerous... Very dangerous.

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Connections

Referenced in The Player (1992)

User Reviews

The Devil in Space.

PLOT OUTLINE: The year is 2022. While on a mission to repair nuclear-armed spy satellites in Earth orbit, the spaceship Spacecore 1 suffers inexplicable power failure. As it drifts towards the Moon, the crew realize that they have only 24 hours air & heat left. But the real nightmare starts when an old space shuttle mysteriously docks with them, bringing onboard a parasite that is revealed to be the Devil.

Call it what you like, but the one thing you can't accuse The Dark Side of the Moon of is not sticking close to its source material (in this case the landmark sci-fi / horror classic ALIEN). The cast is kept to seven actors, two of them are women as well as one of them being an android (although the android's identity is not a secret). The only difference is that we get not one but two large spaceships for the action to take place in.

On a technical aspect, The Dark Side of the Moon is quite good. The actors take their roles seriously & deliver their performances with a passable competence. Three of the cast are also veterans of the genre, with Joe Turkel coming from BLADE RUNNER, Robert Sampson from RE-ANIMATOR & Camilla More from Friday THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER. Director D. J. Webster keep things going at a modest pace while attempting to generate as much atmosphere as he can on a low budget (mainly by having the lighting kept to a minimum, which makes watching the VHS tape a real headache since the picture is so dark that only a completely dark room will allow you to see what the hell is going on). Not to mention a score that fits the film well, made by Mark Ryder & Phil Davies (who made the classic TRANCERS score). The only problems I had with the film were the interior shots of the shuttle, which are way bigger than what it should be.

If the technical aspects are good, then what drags the film down to the B-movie gutter is the script. It tries to blend religion with science fiction, something that almost never works, with some bizarre ideas about the Bermuda Triangle being a plot by the Devil to beef up his soul collection; Ol' Scratch being a parasite that hides inside people's bodies (a real half-cocked concept stolen from THE HIDDEN); much nonsense about the significance of 666. It is not hard to imagine that the ideas on paper have some merit, but on film it only proves to be routine B-film fodder that doesn't rise above the sea of similar films that came out during that decade.

You know what's the scary part? Eight years later, the concept was resurrected as EVENT HORIZON by RESIDENT EVIL director Paul W. S. Anderson.