''Star Crystal'' is a 1986 American

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

film directed by

Lance Lindsay The English term lance is derived, via Middle English ''wikt:launce#Noun 3, launce'' and Old French ''wikt:lance#Old French, lance'', from the Latin ''wikt:lancea#Noun, lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear or javelin employed by both infant ...

. The film stars C. Juston Campbell and Faye Bolt as a pair of

astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

who must survive against a mysterious alien lifeform seeking to kill them, while also facing dwindling supplies aboard their damaged

shuttlecraft A shuttlecraft, also known as a shuttle spacecraft, shuttle ship, drop shuttle, drop spacecraft, or dropship, is a type of spacecraft described in theory and science fiction. Serving the same purpose as a ship's tender, it is a smaller vessel that ...

Plot

In 2032, a crewed expedition to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

discovers a mysterious egg buried under the planet's surface and brings it to their ship, the SC-37. While the astronauts are away, the egg hatches, releasing a crystal and a slimy alien creature. The astronauts conduct experiments on the crystal and the alien, and are soon killed when their air supply is shut off. Two months later, the SC-37 is intercepted by the

space station A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...

L-5, which subsequently is destroyed by a malfunctioning neutron reactor. A ragtag repair crew escape aboard the damaged ship, and the dire situation forces them to work together despite their differences. The crew of five conclude that they lack the supplies necessary to return to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

or await rescue, and decide to stop at a pair of supply stations to remedy this. Meanwhile, the alien hides in the engine room and quickly begins killing the crew. Soon, only two, Roger Campbell and Dr. Adrian Kimberly, remain. As Roger and Adrian lock the alien out of the bridge, it retreats back to the engine room with the crystal. Roger and Adrian find data from the original crew's experiments in the ship's computer, Bernice, indicating that the alien rapidly matures and grows in intelligence, while the crystal is an advanced computer the alien uses when confronted with a problem. Using the crystal, the alien hacks into and takes control of the ship, cutting off their communications and tricking another nearby ship into believing SC-37 does not require rescue. During a subsequent meteor storm that endangers the ship, the alien uses the crystal to project a force field until the storm passes. Roger is forced to enter the lab to retrieve a crate of rations, but when he returns to the bridge without threatening the alien, it lets him go. Soon after, the alien begins reading data on the evolution of the human race and a

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

stored in Bernice's memory. Roger and Adrian decide to continue on to the first supply station, Alpha-7, but Bernice informs them that they will need to repair the engine for this to be feasible. Realizing they must confront the alien, they go the engine room, where it reveals itself to them. Much to their shock, it apologizes profusely for its actions, claiming that it was killing in

self defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in tim ...

until realizing that humans were not as dangerous as it first thought. Identifying itself as GAR, it surrenders control of the ship back to Roger and Adrian, who forgive it and strike a bargain: after they reach the safety of Alpha-7, they will give SC-37 to GAR so it can return to its home planet. The trio work together and repair the ship, quickly forming a friendship with each other despite their initial conflict. SC-37 docks at Alpha-7, and Roger helps GAR load rations in preparation for its voyage. However, a

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

tunnel soon opens; this anomaly can help Roger and Adrian return to Earth, but they must immediately depart aboard the SC-37 to make the trip. GAR realizes that it must part ways with the humans and thanks them, saying that it will always cherish their brief time as friends. Bidding them a sad farewell, GAR uses the crystal to convert Alpha-7 into a ship and sets off for its planet, while Roger and Adrian finally make it back to Earth.

Cast

* C. Juston Campbell as Roger Campbell * Faye Bolt as Dr. Adrian Kimberly * John W. Smith as Cal * Taylor Kingsley as Sherrie Stevens * Marcia Linn as Lt. Billi Lynn * The Gling as the voice of GAR

Music

The film's score was composed by

Doug Katsaros Doug Katsaros is an American keyboardist, arranger, composer, and conductor. Biography In 1978 he played on Paul Stanley's debut album, followed by working on albums by Richie Havens, Michael Bolton, Arc Angel, Bon Jovi and his band Balance ...

. The song featured in its end credits, "Crystal of a Star," was written by Katsaros with lyrics and vocals by Stefani Christopherson.

Release

Theatrical

''Star Crystal'' was released in theaters in April 1986.

Home media

On June 24, 2003 ''Star Crystal'' was released for the first time on DVD in Widescreen by

Anchor Bay Entertainment The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre ...

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art film, art ho ...

later issued it on DVD and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on July 11, 2017.

Footnotes

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0092006
Review on BadMovies.org
1980s science fiction horror films Films about astronauts Films set in 2032 Films set on spacecraft Mars in film Films set in the future 1980s monster movies American space adventure films New World Pictures films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1986 science fiction films English-language science fiction horror films