A 1981 science fiction horror B-Movie by Roger Corman and starring Edward Albert, Ray Walston, Sid Haig, and Robert Englund.
The crew of the starship Quest are sent on a rescue mission to the distant planet Morganthus where they discover a mysterious pyramid-shaped structure, that sets gruesome things out to kill them, born from each of their fears.
James Cameron was the production designer and second unit director for this one, by the way.
This film contains examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg: Quuhod is forced to cut off his own arm.
- Anyone Can Die: And most do. Even the hero's girlfriend Alluma doesn't survive.
- The Big Guy: Quuhod is the biggest of the crew.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: The first monster that appears is a giant ant.
- Boss Rush: The Master summons killer illusions of the monsters and all of the dead crew members to fight Cabran at the climax.
- Closed Circle: Once the Quest crash-lands in Morganthus, they are unable to communicate with anybody and Some Kind of Force Field that emanates from the pyramid makes it impossible for them to take off, forcing them to enter the place to see if they can shut it off.
- Death World: Morganthus. The only thing that could be called "civilization" anywhere in its deserted surface is the gigantic pyramid full of killer aliens and Mind Rape.
- Disney Villain Death: An alien creature suddenly appears to attack Baelon. After getting clawed by it, the alien tosses him off the platform to the depths of the pyramid.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The Planet Master, who had sent the Quest to Morganthus, was actually Kore the cook.
- Dumb Blonde: Averted, Daimeia is blonde and busty but she's a medic officer.
- Dwindling Party: The only crew members who don't die are Cabran and Ranger.
- Enemy Rising Behind: The maggot towards Daimeia.
- Fan Disservice: The worm scene. Daimeia looks mighty fine, except... yeah... rape by overgrown maggot.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Quuhod is killed with his crystal throwing star by his own severed arm.
- Karmic Death: People die based on what they fear the most.
- A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...: Earth is never mentioned.
- Man on Fire: Captain Trantor is lit on fire after something unknown opens the doors in front of her. Ranger finds her cooked corpse.
- Messy Maggots: When the crew find Quuhod's cut arm, it's covered in maggots. Daimeia expresses her fear of them at the sight, which sets her up for a giant maggot assaulting and killing her.
- Mirror Match: Ranger ends up hallucinating a copy of himself that tries to kill him. After a few cuts, Ranger figures out that the only way to prevent his death is by not fighting at all, making the illusion dispel.
- My Little Panzer: Turns out that the pyramid full of monsters literally out of the crew's worst nightmares is a piece of Lost Technology that Ancient Astronauts used to teach their children lessons.
- New Meat: The youngest and newest of the group dies first.
- Out with a Bang: Daimeia gets raped to death by a huge monster maggot in the film's most infamous scene.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: When the crew first enters the abandoned ship, a corpse suddenly falls from the ceiling, hanging in the air upside-down.
- Sole Survivor: Captain Trantor is the only survivor of the "Hesperus Massacre" where she managed to fly back to base alone.
- The Voiceless: Quuhod. He has only one line: "I live… and I die… by the crystals."
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: The newest crew member, Cos, throws up at the sight of the first dead body they discover.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Carbon and Ranger reach the center of the pyramid and find Kore, discovering he is the Master. Carbon goes to confront Kore, but Ranger is left behind and his fate is unknown.
- You Kill It, You Bought It: For reasons known only to himself, the Planet Master chose the crew of the Quest to take the test to see who would become the new Master. Carbon accomplishes it, by surviving everything the pyramid threw at him and taking out the Master.
- Your Head A-Splode: How Alluma dies, crushed by tentacles.
