Star Trek Halloween movie moments: 3 scenes from the frightful frontier
By Mike Poteet
The Ceti eels invade Chekov and Terrell’s ears (Star Trek II)
When I talk with non-Star Trek fans about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, they tend to remember three things about it most: the death of Spock, Wiliam Shatner’s iconic “Khan!” scream, and “those things Khan put in people’s ears.”
“Those things” are indeed memorable. Star Trek had shown us ugly creatures before, but Khan’s use of the Ceti eels against Captain Terrell and Chekov was one of the franchise’s earliest forays into full-on horror. This scene deserves to be atop any list of Star Trek Halloween viewing.
Allan Asherman’s 1982 behind-the-scenes book The Making of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan devotes a full eight pages to the design and use of the Ceti eel props. Asherman quotes producer Robert Sallin on the terrifying critters’ origin: “… [W]hat we needed was something that would get a really visceral reaction from the audience …. I said we need something that’s really slimy and just totally disgusting” (page 125).
Mission more than accomplished! The Ceti eel puppets ILM designed and operated are immediately terrifying to behold, especially with their sharp pincers and quickly lashing tongues. And the moment when the Ceti eel’s gooey larva actually slips into Chekov’s ear canal was so unsettling that, when the film first aired on ABC, the network television censors snipped it (along with the eel’s corresponding exit later in the movie).
Ricardo Montalbán “sells” the audience on these beasties’ lethal potential as he describes what they will do to Chekov and Terrell. Walter Koenig and Paul Winfield, respectively, respond with convincingly frightened performances. And composer James Horner’s score completes the sequence’s nerve-wracking effect with discordant, screeching strings worthy of Bernard Herrman’s score for Psycho.
Star Trek (2009) paid homage to the Ceti eels by having Nero shove a “Centaurian slug” down Captain Pike’s throat. While a nice tip of the hat, it pales in comparison to Khan’s use of the Ceti eels, surely the most stomach-churning moment in any Star Trek movie.