Movie Review: Ghosts of Mars

Ghosts of Mars 

Starring: Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier, Joanna Cassidy, Richard Cetrone, Rosemary Forsyth, Liam Waite, Duane Davis, Lobo Sebastian, Rodney A. Grant, Peter Jason, Wanda De Jesus, Doug McGrath, Rick Edelstein, Robert Carradine, Michael Krawic, Eileen Weisinger, Rex Linn, Matt Nolan, Marjean Holden, Charlotte Cornwell 

Director: John Carpenter 

Screen Gems, Storm King Productions, Animationwerks, USA, 2001. 

In 2176 Mars is being colonized. Ominous rumours are spreading and a ghost train arrives with only one passenger, Lieutenant Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge, "the chick from Species"). She has taken illegal substance called Tetramonochloride, her favourite drug. So does the compound have one or four chloride ions, take your pick. 

Train arrives to station

Melanie Ballard

Earlier Melanie and her police squad traveled to Shining Canyon to pick up prisoner James Desolation Williams (Ice Cube). Along came Commander Helena Braddock (Pam Grier), Sergeant Jericho Butler (Jason Statham) and rookies Bashira Kincaid (Clea DuVall) and Michael Descanso (Liam Waite). 

The town seems abandoned

Commander Helena Braddock

James Desolation Williams

Shining Canyon seems deserted. Melanie and Jericho find only body parts and weird art made of metal wire and scissors. They also find bodies hanging from the ceiling. Williams and other prisoners sit in their prison cells. There is also Dr. Whitlock (Joanna Cassidy). She has escaped from Druckers Bridge mining colony. There are some surviving colonists who seem to be possessed. One of them kills himself in a locked vehicle yelling Melanie and the others to stay away and not opening the door. So logically Melanie orders Jericho to open the door. Jericho does not want to. 

There is something wrong in Shining Canyon

Jericho Butler

The colonists possessed by ancient Martian spirits start to attack. Also Desolation Williams is temporarily freed and he and Melanie fight some crazies. The possessed colonists form a black metal/ orc tribe and decapitate the unpossessed. The police and the criminals must combine their forces to survive the attacking horde, "Assault on Precinct 13" style. Anthrax and Buckethead provide some heavy metal tunes to spice up the combat scenes. 

Big Daddy Mars (Richard Cetrone)

Gangsta in space part 1

Although "Ghosts of Mars" loans ideas from Carpenters previous movies, this is Carpenter at his weakest. There is not the effective horror of "the Thing" or "Halloween." The characters are not interesting enough and the attacking horde looks like campy barbarians. Ice Cube is meant to be similar antihero as Snake Plissken but he is more a regular gangsta in space. The Asylum should make a movie "Gangstas vs Metal Heads in Space."  Natasha Henstridge acts tough but seems a bit disoriented. Statham's character is hilariously chauvinist macho man. Pam Grier's role is annoyingly small. "Ghosts of Mars" is disappointingly forgettable scifi horror action film. 

Gangsta in space part 2

Rating: Bad