The space travelers were also armed with ray guns. I had seen the guns before, because Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers each had one. They were awesome weapons—capable of dissolving anything in their beam. The gun made a noise like the hum of a fluorescent bulb, followed by a pop similar to today’s bug-zapper.

Carrying ray guns along was good planning, because in the movie the moon was inhabited by more than rocks and dust. Indeed, it was a repository of misfits from around the galaxy—banished there for crimes on other planets too despicable to tolerate. No two demons were alike, and the only limits to the creation of their horrid features were the imaginations of Hollywood science fictionists. I would not again see such a smorgasbord of beauty-challenged creatures until the nightclub scene in Star Wars I.

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