Moontrap

I had me some fun revisiting MOONTRAP the other day. Had not seen it since my teen-days. A small but ambitious sci-fi/horror film about a race of robotic aliens hidden on the dark side of the moon, occupying themselves since ages with building a giant mother-ship - that thing was huge! - to invade earth and using human bodies for spare-parts (VIRUS with Jamie Lee Curtis, anyone?). A weird film altogether with a lot of great and some not-so-great special effects, including nifty looking miniatures. Starring none less than Walter Koenig (from the original STAR TREK series) and Bruce Campbell, who's acting his way very inappropriately through this film, like if he was convinced he was doing another EVIL DEAD film. Can't really call this a great film, with its pacing problems and illogical goings-on, but it was a blast seeing it again.

Astronauts Jason Grant (Walter Koenig of 'Star Trek' fame) and Ray Tanner (Bruce "Ash" Campbell) discover some ancient alien artifacts in the vicinity of the moon. Among them are an alien corpse (that turns out to be 14,000 years old), and an object somewhat resembling one of the eggs from the "Alien" franchise. When the object and the corpse merge into a menacing cyborg, our heroes are motivated to make a return trip to the moon to see what else is out there. They're in for some more discoveries. This time, one of them is a very human looking female named Mera (lovely Leigh Lombardi).

Director Robert Dyke and screenwriter Tex Ragsdale try not to overstate matters. Basically, Jason has to figure out for himself what the story is, and expresses it out loud just to make sure that we get it. Dyke does a creditable job of working with an obviously very limited budget, but establishes a fairly grim atmosphere right from the start. The practical special effects are actually pretty damn good considering the constraints. Joseph LoDuca composed a decent enough score. While Dyke and Ragsdale are to be commended for creating a serious mood, they don't hesitate to insert a little levity here and there. As can be expected, the swaggering Campbell does have his moments. There's just a little bit of gore, but folks looking for exploitable elements will be pleased to see that Lombardi and an exotic dancer both bare their breasts. The dialogue isn't always so hot, but the performances are fine from the two leads, and they do create some chemistry. It IS nice to see veteran Koenig in a top billed hero role.

Be sure to wait through the closing credits for a little bit of an epilogue.

"Moontrap" is decent, deliberately paced entertainment that may have some appeal for lovers of sci-fi / horror combos.

Six out of 10.

This isn't a classic by any means. But it is fun to watch! It has a very good SciFi premise, the acting is good, and the cinematography is good. I really thought the special effects were outstanding for a small budget flick. The dialog suffers a little/lot here and there but is passable. While the movie itself doesn't make the "A List" there are two or three scenes that are kind of classic and make the whole thing worthwhile. If you like the B flicks then this one is a must! I would love to see a big budget remake. Grab some popcorn and load it up, you'll be glad you did!

SPOILER: i loved this movie and not for a post ST Koenig or evil dead Campbell, but because it had a strange twist on what may have happened to earth in the past, they were prob the legends of Atlantis and shows us a idea of why we should not let our toys get smarter then the ones who build them. yes there are a lot of poor cheesy jokes and the plot was lame in places but over all it was a good flick if a bit gory in the reuse of humans for parts. It does have a lot in common with terminator, aliens and virus but sci-fi does have a tend to copy it self, but if you want to see a good film with some good ideas then this one is for you, it is a thrill ride if you don't think to hard

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.