I think it was an upspoken {sadly} understanding that his crystals were indeed sort of a religion.. I alwyas though of him being something of a martial artist part of an order of crystal wielders who viewed their crystals sort of like how a samurai views his Daisho [ Katana & Wakizashi ] but it would have been much cooler to get to so him use them a time or two to show how bad-ass he likely was with them - then give us some of that back story concerning them perhaps in an 'aside' to one of the characters asking the main hero guy about the crystals. I think it would be awesome if someone remade this movie adding in that kind of backstory to the characters modernizing the special effects and all!
I was WAAAAAAY too young to watch this movie when I first saw it in the movie theatre had to leave the theatre before the end of it! It scared the hell out of me! Great cult classic!

What I wonder is if had he just gotten over the loss of the crystals and used the laser would he have lived to the end of the movie? Or would some other deadly trap have taken their place?

It reminded me of a scene in The Mummy, were the guy in the tomb is looting gold encrusted scarabs, one of those scarabs breaks free and crawls under his skin entering his brain. It happens 2 times in that movie, perhaps The Mummy ripped that idea from this wonderful movie.
Keeping the 80s up to date

I stayed up late with my brother about 25 years ago watching this movie on TV at our Grandmother's house. The 'crystals up the arm' scene has been stuck in my head ever since. Just recently re-discovered this movie on Netflix.

That crystal-up-the-arm-scene has haunted me all these decades. I was way too young to be watching this film when it came out!

This message has been deleted.

There might have been a handy backstory on the crystals within the dialogue that Sid Haig refused to speak? They seemed underexplained but apparently they were not only his weapon and tool but some sort of religion for him.
Nifty how part of a crystal slid up under the skin of his arm. Reminded me of the Bruce Campbell scene in Brain Slasher/Mindwarp where some water dwelling slug thingies did similar. But the similarity would only freak me out if Galaxy Of Terror had an aka that was identical to the name of the abovementioned.

There was no need for an explanation. The crystals are awesome and once the awesomeness was shattered all hope was lost and chaos ensues.

Lightsabers had a story behind them. The crystals were never really explained though.

This message has been deleted.

This message has been deleted.

Well maybe you consider being raped by a maggot to be a walk in the park, but that kind of beep keeps me up at night. You can bet I don't leave old meat lying around on the floor anymore after seeing that movie. As for Freddy Krueger, he had an entire movie series based on how scary he is. So it just makes sense that he'd be his own worst nightmare. Think about it!
And like I said, I don't see what's so complicated about this. They all feared the thing that killed them and so there was no reason it needed to be explained. Honestly, if at some point in the movie that chick had said "I sure hope a giant maggot doesn't rape me to death, because that's my biggest fear," you probably would have laughed. Because it wasn't necessary. You saw the death and that explained everything. Their deepest fear was the thing that killed them, end of story.
And please do not question the wisdom of the Master or I will be forced to destroy you. He did what was necessary and nothing more should be said. If the Master thinks an insane woman should lead a rescue mission to another galaxy, then he knows what he's doing. Besides, Cabren lived because he was "too scared to be" afraid. And that's how we should all be if we want to deal with our own fears: Too scared to fear them. That's the lesson I got out of it, anyway. I guess that's why I haven't been raped by the maggot yet.

This message has been deleted.

Well I thought it was all pretty self-explanatory. One chick feared being raped by a giant maggot. Erin Moran feared having something weird crush her skull. Freddy Krueger naturally feared Freddy Krueger, being that Freddy is just a really scary guy. And Haig's character feared having a crystal snap off in his arm, head towards his body, after which he'd have to cut off his arm and have it throw a throwing crystal at his heart. What needs to be explained? Those all sound like pretty scary things and I personally have a deep fear of each one, especially the giant maggot rape.
I suppose next you'd like an explanation as to why people who crashland on a barren planet would prefer to slide down scary tubes in a place that keeps killing people rather than repair their ship and leave. Or how a planet with no organic life can have breathable air. Or why they made an insane woman captain of the ship. Jesus dude, try using your brain once in awhile. The filmmakers went through a lot of trouble to make those maggots dance. You want them to explain stuff too?? Ha!
If you don't get it, you just weren't paying attention. Or perhaps the movie was a little too deep for people like you. If you can't understand symbolism, stay home.

This message has been deleted.

Are you kidding me? The crystals were awesome. They were totally sharp throwing things that were totally sharp and deadly. Once you used the crystals, you wouldn't even want a lame old laser gun. Cause you had the crystals!
I guess you probably wondered about Obi Wan's obsession with light sabers, too. But believe it or not, some things are cooler than guns; namely, light sabers and throwing crystals. If only they didn't break so easily