Skip to content 
We may receive a commission for purchases made through our links.
Playing Chekov in “Star Trek” was far from Walter Koenig’s only contribution to the science fiction genre. Sadly, Koenig, the original “Star Trek” Chekov, has died at the age of 90. We’ll always remember him for what he did in those franchises, but he certainly influenced the genre in other areas as well. ‘Babylon 5’ is a representative example. But in the late ’80s, he starred alongside another genre icon in a forgotten sci-fi film.
Directed by Robert Dyke, 1989’s “Mooncrash” starred Koenig as an astronaut opposite him and “Evil Dead” franchise star Bruce Campbell. One sci-fi icon and one horror icon come together for an often-forgotten relic of genre filmmaking.
The film centers around astronauts (Connick and Campbell) who are sent to the moon to investigate what appear to be signs of life. They reanimate the body of a woman (Lee Lombardi) who warns them that the moon is under the control of a race of alien cyborgs waiting for an opportunity to invade Earth. They realize they must take desperate measures to prevent the cyborgs from leaving the moon.
The premise is interesting and the stars look like they’ll have an interesting match. But while there are plenty of ’80s sci-fi movies that deserve more attention, the consensus seems to be that this isn’t one of them.
Moontrap is a forgotten relic of ’80s low-budget sci-fi.
‘Moontrap’ was produced directly to video on a relatively low budget. It also came at a unique time for both lead actors.
Walter Koenig was in his later days as Chekov, and this film was released between “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” and “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.” This was when the OG crew of the Enterprise began to lose steam. William Shater apologizes for ‘Star Trek V: The Final Frontier’ The bigger point is that, as much as Trekkies love “The Voyage Home,” it can be seen as the last hurray for the franchise’s original film era.
Bruce Campbell was definitely a B-level actor at the time. As a working actor and not yet a legend, he was not in a position to be picky about the roles he played. The “Maniac Cop” trilogy was ahead of its time, and Campbell also appeared during this time, but it wasn’t a mainstream hit. He also starred in the underrated slasher “Intruder” in ’89, which was also somewhat of a non-blockbuster.
There’s little criticism of ‘Moontrap’ online, but it doesn’t have a very good 27% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Above all, it is a forgotten relic of 80s science fiction whose existence was only permitted with the emergence of the VHS and home video markets. Here and now, it’s probably going to be a direct streaming release on Shudder or something along those lines.
If you’re interested, you can purchase the “Moontrap” DVD on Amazon.