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- Ghosts of Mars - US DVD - 

The setting is a futuristic Mars. 
A law enforcement team is sent by train to an isolated mining community. 
Ironically, it is called Shining Canyon. They are to pick up and 
transport a mass murderer to trial. The team (including lead actress 
Natasha Henstridge) finds the community deserted. The only people alive
are five prisoners, including the murderer Desolation William (Ice Cube).
One member of the team makes a discovery.
Hundreds of the miners are still alive. They have become murderous savages.
Director John Carpenter creates a grim and dark set for the movie.
Unfortunately, that is about the only thing with any significant value 
in Ghosts Of Mars. The movie stumbles along. The first half-hour is
extremely slow and talky. When the team finally reaches the mining
community, I waited for the action and thrills to begin. I am still
waiting. Not once did my pulse quicken. Several times Carpenter sets up
scenes to cause the audience to jump. It never happens.
The murderous horde seems to be rejects from The Road Warrior. They are
the surviving members of the mining community who have been possessed by
ancient Mars inhabitants. The possessed humans purposely disfigure
themselves, paint their faces, and wear skin masks of those they kill. I
felt that I had seen this all before.
Many of the scenes are too contrived. At one point the remaining members
of the team, plus the prisoners, plus three other criminals who try to
free Desolation Williams, battle it out with the crazies. The good guys
attack right into the center of hundreds of these blood-thirsty maniacs.
How so many of the good guys survive is a mystery to me. The psychotic
rabble somehow turns into a somewhat disciplined group. Suddenly they
fight with well-choreographed movements. Scenes like this are just wrong.
The special effects adds nothing to the movie. We see seven freshly
decapitated heads on pikes. They look like seven rubber heads dripping
with fake blood. Quite often the good guys throw explosive charges at the
maniacs. There is an explosion, a puff of smoke, and the enemy jumps away
to his death. Yea, jumps, not gets blown to pieces.
Carpenters sound track really misses in this one. He has his normal
synthesized tracks. This time he includes more guitar riffs than I
normally remember. It sounds like someone learned one or two chords.
Then for effect, the chords are played faster and faster. It brings none
of the intensity that we normally receive from his sound tracks.
The acting is good. Natasha Henstridge uses her looks and physical
skills to give the movie something worth watching. Pam Grier, the leader
of the team, is badly misused. Her character and Henstridges are set up
for some much-needed conflict. Griers character is killed off too early
to really make it work. Joanna Cassidy, cast as a scientist, has a chance
to bring something to this movie. She probably gave the best performance.
I felt that Carpenter never fully develops her character and loses her in
the maze of the other cast members.
The script severely hinders any chance that the movie has to be a success.
Several times I thought that Ghosts Of Mars was a poorly written remake of
Assault On Precinct 13. In case you have never heard of that, it is John 
Carpenters movie immediately before Halloween. 
What worked in Assault On Precinct 13 does not even come close in this
shockless waste of film.
I found the John Carpenter and Natasha Henstridge commentary to be 
completely useless. Carpenter spends a large amount of the time trying to
pick up the leading lady. That is very unprofessional and annoying.
Henstridge is more interesting then Carpenter. His constant sexual 
overtones blots out anything significant that either says. Carpenter
talks about drug use during the commentary. He says that he has smoked
pot since the 1960s but never dropped acid and does not use hard drugs.
Okay, if he says so.
There is also a video diary of the filming of the movie. The entire
movie was shot at night. During the diary, it appears that the cast and
crew put an honest effort into the filming. Somewhere all of that is
lost. The special effects segment did nothing for me. It showed how some
of the scenes were filmed and how they look after they were edited. It
wasted a half hour of my time.
I did receive one surprise. In the scoring of Ghost Of Mars I discovered
that Anthrax was involved in several of the tracks. Another misuse of
decent talent.
John Carpenter was once one of the best horror directors we had. Those
days are long gone. Come to think of it, I have not really like a John
Carpenter movie since Prince Of Darkness. That was fifteen years ago. My
advice on Ghosts Of Mars, do not bother. Rent something else.

Reviewed By Scal Williams

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