Product Details

• Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Ken Lynch, James Doohan
• Directors: Joseph Pevney
• Writers: Gene L. Coon, Gene Roddenberry
• Producers: Gene L. Coon, Gene Roddenberry, Robert H. Justman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: CBS Paramount International Television
• VHS Release Date: April 15, 1994
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300213307
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,002 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There's an emergency on Janus VI, a seemingly uninhabited planet rich in metals and rare minerals crucial to Federation operations. There's a lot of money to be made by the mining contractor involved, but there's a swift-moving, unseen monster roaming the snaky tunnels of Janus's interior, turning miners into acid-drenched goo. Fifty men have died, and it's up to the Enterprise to find the alien culprit and defuse the lynch-mob mentality spreading among the paranoid miners. Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) beam down to initiate the detective work, leading Spock to quickly conclude that the thousands of silicone balls mysteriously strewn about the planet's deepest caves might have something to do with the reasons behind the atrocities. Written by series guru Gene L. Coon and directed by mainstay Joseph Pevney (who alternated directorial chores with Marc Daniels during the show's second season), "The Devil in the Dark" is a breathlessly paced episode reflecting a delightful variety of cross-genre influences--Westerns, creature features, gritty noir. Add one of the most effective and moving instances of the Enterprise's search for new life on Star Trek (plus McCoy's infamous complaint, "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer"), and this is a memorable program indeed. --Tom Keogh

From the Back Cover

Kirk and Spock beam down to investigate when an unknown monster roaming the tunnels of Janus VI kills more than fifty miners.

TREK TRIVIA
This episode features one of McCoy's most famous lines: "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!"
Famed stuntman and creature designer Janos Prohaska created and performed the role of the Horta, and later returned as the Mugato and Yarnek the Excalbian.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Story, Nice Lines, and a Nice Moral, August 21, 2001

By 

"sukhisoo" (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 26: The Devil In the Dark [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This episode features the "horta", which I like to call the "giant pepperoni pizza". In this episode, the giant pizza wrecks havoc on the crew and equipment of a mining operation and it's up to Kirk and Spock to set things right.

The story moves along fairly briskly, though the suspense seems a little light and the mystery isn't all that intriguing. Still, the pizza dispatches its share of technicians and redshirts and there are some funny lines uttered by Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and especially McCoy. These actors have, by this time, grown comfortable with their roles, and it shows in a very positive manner.

The best parts are near the end. I don't want to give anything vital, but this episode demonstrates why Star Trek has been considered as ground-breaking television.

Very nice episode.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some great, classic sequences and lines, May 24, 2000

By 

jasenao (Dothan, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 26: The Devil In the Dark [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"The Devil In The Dark" is about a monster called a Horta that can melt metal and burn people to a crisp that has killed about 500 miners deep underground in a colony by the name of Janus VI. The main crew from the Enterprise go down to investigate. The leader of Janus VI tells them to kill the monster the first chance they get. While still talking to the mine's leader, Spock spots a round ball made completely of silicon that he finds fascinating. Soon afterwards, the Horta destroys a part of the reactor and steals the circulating pump that provides heat and air in the mining area. Spock and Captain Kirk think that the Horta might be an intelligent, silicon-based life form.

As soon as their expedition to find the Horta starts, the monster burrows through a metal wall close to Spock and Kirk. The monster looks like a solid mix of dried lava and rock. It also has a white spot on its back where it could easily be shot and killed. It's resistant to the phasers, but it can be hurt by them. Spock and Kirk both shoot it and it burrows away from them. Then the real adventure begins to try to find and kill the Horta.

"The Devil In The Dark" has some of the most memorable sequences of the original Star Trek series. Kirk and the Horta monster wind up in the same room after Kirk and Spock decide to split up. Kirk discovers that the monster is not as harmful as once thought. It trots close to the captain, then when Kirk raises his phaser, it backs away and just stares at him. Spock tells Kirk to kill it, but Captain Kirk refuses saying the creature is not making any threatening moves. Spock then joins Kirk and the Horta. The Horta moves over and writes a message on the rock saying, "No Kill I." Captain Kirk and Spock don't know what it means. What Spock decides to do next is classic. He performs the Vulcan Mind Meld on the creature. While doing this, he speaks the monster's mind. Spock continues doing the Vulcan Mind Meld on the monster throughout most of the rest of the episode. The Horta says things such as, "The civilization must end here." It then tells Captain Kirk where to go to find what he's looking for. Surprisingly, he finds the circulating pump and a bunch of broken eggs. The whole time, the Horta monster had been killing the miners because these cannonball-looking silicon balls are the creature's eggs and it's the mother. Captain Kirk makes an agreement with the leader of Janus VI to not harm the monster and for them to live in peace, and he agrees.

"The Devil In The Dark" is without a doubt one of the best written and most entertaining episodes of Star Trek. William Shatner has some great lines such as, "There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal." It also has a few parts that are somewhat humorous like at the end of the show when Captain Kirk asks Spock if the creature said anything about Spock's ears. "Devil In The Dark" is a true classic and one of the best episodes of the original Star Trek. I recommend it to any Star Trek fan. When I start collecting all the original Star Trek episodes, "The Devil In The Dark" will be one of the first ones I get.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tender Adventure, June 16, 2008

By 

Cheryll L. Nelson "Speech and Language Pathol... (Union Grove, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 26: The Devil In the Dark [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Star Trek was a wonderful series despite not ever being able to live up to its awesome potential due to serious financial limitations. Granted the special effects don't measure up to today's wowing computer graphics, but the talent of the cast made up for it. How I wish that Paramount had caught the true potential and had committed to it. What a series it would have been!

In this episode, Star Trek was at its best. The tensions between McCoy and Spock in this case, disagreeing over life based on silicon vs carbon. And between Spock and Kirk over the dangers of new beings vs the sanctity of preserving life. Definitely the strength of Star Trek was in the heart of the relationships between the three main characters and their actor counterparts.

This is definitely an episode to acquire and treasure.