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Product Description
Melanie Ballard, a police officer on Mars, is sent to capture a dangerous criminal, Desolation Williams, and discovers that Martian life forms are takAmazon.com
Ghosts of Mars may not be one of John Carpenter's finer efforts, but you can't knock the veteran director for staying true to his roots--it's clearly a Carpenter film, reveling in its B-movie blood lust, and fueled by the director's rock & roll rebellion as well as the sex appeal of star Natasha Henstridge. This rickety sci-fi/horror hybrid recalls Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, with various connections from throughout the director's career--for better and worse. It's the year 2176, and human colonists on Mars are controlled by a political "matronage," with women (for reasons unexplained) holding court in the capitol city of Chryse. Mars Police Force Lt. Ballard (Henstridge) has been sent to retrieve James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube), the planet's most notorious criminal, from a remote mining-colony prison. With her ill-fated crew, Ballard discovers that the colonists have nearly all been possessed by ancient Martian spirits bent on reclaiming the planet, turning them into an army of self-mutilating freaks suggesting an unholy union of Marilyn Manson and the sadomasochistic Cenobites from the Hellraiser films. None of this makes much sense, and the shaky alliance between cops and criminals is a predictable excuse for rampant battle scenes between surviving humans and the ghost-possessed maniacs. Exotic weaponry abounds (along with cheap special effects and some laughable dialogue), resulting in the gruesome dispatch of expendable costars Pam Grier, Joanna Cassidy, Robert Carradine, and Clea Duvall. Driven by Carpenter's synth-metal score, this violent free-for-all has a few brief highlights, but it's suspenseless and ultimately absurd. It's not much, but for loyal fans it's probably enough. --Jeff ShannonSimilarProduct
Customer reviews
Action, Violence, Comedy make Ghosts one of Carpenters Best! 
by .. ()
Before I start I cannot stress enough the importance of not listening to "professional" critics about any films of the horror genre, and especially Carpenter`s films. He is my all-time favorite director so of course I went and saw this film against the consent of the "critics", 3 times already. This film has it all, the sexy Natasha Henstridge, the regular Carpenter patented anti-hero Ice Cube, and a very funny and cool Jason Stratham. This film has tons of over the top gore, moreso than Vampires. Big Daddy Mars is the coolest bad guy ever in a film with his huge body, mangled face, and sharpened teeth. The action scenes are incredibly fast-paced gunfights with lots of blood, guts and explosions and to accompany these over-the-top battles is a great heavy-metal score composed by John Carpenter and Anthrax to add more energy to the already explosive scene. The zombie-like ghosts look incredibly cool with all types of decorative nails and metallic pieces pushed into their faces and bodies. the makeup is absolutely incredible for what it is. Also there is no cheesy drawn out "noooooo" deaths in the film when the characters get rubbed out, the other characters move on. And the ending is great being somewhat downbeat but positive at the same time. The acting is far better than reviewed by the likes of terrible newspapers as USA Today. Carpenter made an action/sci-fi/horror movie for people to enjoy, he wasn`t trying to win an oscar. Possibly being his last film as he has planned to retire, I say this is a film of his, right up there with Big Trouble in Little China and the Thing. Being one of his best films by my standards, a horror/scifi lover I say screw the critics and see this one if you want a fun time, and are a action/horror film lover. Good Job Carpenter!
Easily the best movie of the summer. by .. mike (belvidere, il.)
This has been the worst summer movie season in recent history. Both Pearl Harbor and Planet of the Apes were nothing short of horrible. Rush Hour 2 and American Pie 2 were 2 of the unfunniest comedies I've ever seen. The only bright spots had been Shrek and The Mummy Returns. But now summer has been saved thanks to The Master Of Terror, John Carpenter. Not only is this the best movie of the summer, but it is Carpenter's best in some time. Gone are the glossy and empty traits of today's movies. No heavy handed CGI effects. No "up-and-coming" Dawson's Creek-style teen actors. No useless winks to the audience to show how "clever" the filmmakers are. This is old fashioned movie making, and thank GOD! The cinematography is absolutely incredible. The music is pulse-pounding. (Yes, I bought the soundtrack already). The acting is low-key but great all around. And the action is in your face, and it never stops. No John Woo-ish or Matrix-style slow motion (which I despise). The action comes at you full throttle and puts you right in the middle of it all. John Carpenter has been my favorite director for over 20 years now. He has NEVER let me down. This time he delivers the goods in spades. I won't go into details about the plot. You've seen the previews. Ignore what "critics" have said. Don't think that just because a movie makes a ridiculous amount of money that it deserves to be seen. If you want to have a fun time at the movies, see JOHN CARPENTER'S GHOSTS OF MARS. Accept no substitutes.
It's not their planet anymore by .. Ryan Costantino (Nowhere, Special)
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars has pretty much everything I'm looking for in a Horror film. A barely plausible storyline, Wisconsin-French dialogue (Cheez-ay!), non-stop action, gore, eye candy (Natasha "Shoulda Got Naked Like She Did in Species" Henstridge), and a killer soundtrack.
"Whatever used to live here we woke it up."
The cast is great, Ice Cube as Desolation Williams and Mrs. Henstridge as Melanie Ballard are awesome in their roles. Pam Grier has a head supporting role, and her best line is "Who goes there?" which is a sly nod from Carpenter to his insane masterpiece The Thing (based on the story Who Goes There?).
Decapitations, body mutilations, an angry army of Martian Ghost Zombies and plenty of jolts make this a worthy 98 minute diversion. Watching this you can just tell that everyone was enjoying the hell out of making the film. Which is the best part about seeing a Carpenter movie, you know that big studio tampering was either kept to a minimum or eliminated altogether. A masterful mix of sci-fi and horror that seems destined to become a cult favorite, just like John Carpenter.
Any fan of no brainer popcorn flicks should check this movie out.
A hard and fun space western - Carpenter all over! by .. Jack Felson (Paris, France)
Shamefully and unfairly calumniated, denigrated, insulted, disgraced, depreciated by a mob of blind journalists, critics and public viewers fond of, if not obsessed with neatness, clichés and deja-vu in movies, afraid of everything new, creative and non-conformist, unable to analyse correctly and understand... the last Carpenter release, his rejoicing "Ghosts of Mars" is a rare piece of work we unfortunately no more have the courage to make and face these days.
'For them, we are the invaders...'
What did you expect? "Total Recall" n° 2? "Species" n° 3? Another teen movie? In case you forgot, Big John Carpenter is an independent artist, a rebel and he makes his films the way he wants them to be made, keeping all the usual Hollywood stuff away. In "Ghosts of Mars" like in most of his previous films, no stupid sentimental scene, no cheap love story, no body-builded superstar like Schwarzenegger for bumping off all the bad guys one after another (and no super female to back him up) and of course for triumphing in the end, no heavy, exhausting special effects, no honeyed music... in two words, not any of all the conventions always desired by the brainless but too demanding riff-raff (critics included). This film must be seen as a real action movie, and the hell with the established criterions!
"Ghosts of Mars" is first the proof that Carpenter is no more influenced by the others; he's now influenced only by himself, his own work. The Shining Canyon siege reminds us of the ones in "Assault on Precinct 13" and also "Prince of Darkness", the possession theme takes us back to "The Thing", the fighting scenes, to "Big Trouble in Little China" and Big Daddy Mars is very close to Blake in "The Fog" and the chilling bum played by rocker Alice Cooper in "Prince of Darkness". The only outside influence is Cyril Endfield's "Zulu", about the Martians and their methods, mutilating the human bodies they took possession of - not mutilating themselves; of course, they're already dead! -, acting like a savage tribe (what's all that stuff about Marilyn Manson??? For Christ Sake! this is ridiculous!). There's also some of "The Exorcist", and the scene where Henstridge manages to get rid of the ghost inside her, thanks to the dope she's addicted to, may give us a solution to demon possession.
Instead of kicking...in real life, Carpenter does it in his movies. He always did so far and there's no reason he doesn't do it again. Despite some senseless elements in the script - we don't really understand why the ghosts of Mars can't get through the doors and walls, and why the human characters, after escaping from hell, come back to it right away, in order to try to blow up the whole place and the ghosts with it, with an atomic bomb (the problem is, you can't kill what's already dead) -, the movie manages to work. One of the most important things is the political background which is still here, as visible as it was before, and Carpenter didn't take gloves for nothing, especially not for the Mars planet itself - a dark mining colony, soon becoming some kind of a hell, and reminding us Manhattan transformed as an outdoor prison hell in "Escape from New York", for the two main characters (the one is a gang leader, the other, a drug addict), for the society of the earth, settled on Mars - a matriarchal society, ruled by women (why not? It's very envisageable, and doesn't need any explanation), and for his country's history: the ghosts can be easily compared with the American Indians. Using the hard way, Carpenter reminds us that Mars is, for the mankind, just another territory to be conquered, whatever the price (one more general slaughter?), doing it again, 21 years after "The Fog" which has a similar message about the past. 'It's not their planet any more', Melanie Ballard says. Finally, there were in this movie all the elements leading to its (unfair but foreseeable) critical and public failure. All the more because, probably for the first time since "Johnny Guitar" (forget about the "Alien" series), it's a woman who got the first role in a high-grade action movie. And as we know, the audience is filled with machos...
About the actors, we'll notice the good performance of very (too?) pretty Natasha Henstridge, here in the role of a strong (and of course sexually attractive) woman, far from all the conventions in force in Hollywood. For once, she doesn't strip - why should she, Bruce? It's not in her contract, and besides the role wasn't written for her - even macho Jason Statham can't make her! - and she really ACTS! At LAST! Ice Cube makes it rather well in a Plissken-looking role (like Plissken and 'Napoleon' Wilson in "Assault on Precinct 13", James 'Desolation' Williams doesn't believe in anything but staying alive), and Pam Grier ("Coffy", "Jackie Brown"), back with Big John five years after "Escape from L.A.", and Joanna Cassidy ("Blade Runner", "Who framed Roger Rabbit?") make diverting appearances. The result is a hell of a sci-fi movie, managing to cleverly mix many genres (action, horror, western, comedy of manners...) with quite little money; a movie to be taken at the third degree and consumed like good source water: with no moderation. Just try, you'll see, it's very easy...
So Bad It's Good by .. Benjamin Bradley (Ames, IA United States)
I actually liked this movie. It is just simple ridiculous fun. Not too much to think about or analyze but
still enjoyable if you don't go into it with any expectations. As many other reviewers point out, the plot, script, acting and effects are lack luster at best, but if you know that is what they were shooting for, then you can really find a couple hours entertainment. The only disappointing part were the "ghosts" because they didn't look very alien. I guess I shouldn't have had any expectations about that though...