One of the peculiar things about Star Trek II that I think often goes overlooked is that it features at least two full-on horror movie sequences, arguably the only movie in the series to do so.
Of course the two I'm thinking of are Chekov and Terrell's introduction to "Khan's pets," and the boarding party investigating the eerie, deserted interiors of Space Station Regula 1. It's not even that they're necessarily that gruesome (though they're both pretty gnarly for a Star Trek movie), but both scenes stretch out the tension for all it's worth, using highly suggestive camera angles and framing, along with Horner's score going all-in on the horror vibe, not holding back the creepiness or startling chords at all. The Regular 1 scene even ends with a jump scare!
It's something I've always been a little curious about because "charismatic sci-fi villain seeks revenge via flashy futuristic spaceship battles" isn't a plot you'd necessarily expect to lean that far into horror. Was it something the filmmakers were conscious of, ie. "hmm, you know this would make a pretty killer sequence if we play it like a horror flick?" Did it just sort of develop organically, partly because 'Alien' and slasher movies were popular at the time? I don't think I've ever heard anyone in the production comment on this aspect, which is funny because it's not something you get from Star Trek every day, especially from the movies.
What's also funny is that despite these scenes and arguably a higher level of gruesomeness and chilling atmosphere in general, TWOK's never struck me as a particularly dark film, though maybe I'm just used to 80s movies being more hardcore than usual.
But whatever the inspiration was, one thing's for sure:
In space no one Khan hear you scream!
(I'm so sorry)
