Ghosts of Mars Information

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film composed, written, and directed by John Carpenter. The film stars Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall, and Joanna Cassidy. The film was a critical and financial failure, scoring just a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earning $14 million at the box office, against a $28 million production budget.

Plot

Set in the second half of the 22nd century, Mars has been 84% terraformed, allowing humans to walk on the surface without pressure suits. Martian society has become matriarchal, with women in most positions of authority. The story concerns police officer Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), second in command of a team alongside Sergeant Jericho (Jason Statham) sent to a remote mining outpost to transport prisoner Desolation Williams (Ice Cube). Arriving at the remote mining town, Ballard finds all of the people missing. She learns that they had discovered an underground doorway created by an ancient Martian civilization. When the door was opened it released disembodied spirits or "ghosts", which took possession of the miners.

The possessed miners commit horrific acts of death and destruction, along with self-mutilation. When team leader Helena Bradock (Pam Grier) is murdered, Ballard must assume command, fight off the possessed miners, escape the town and hopefully destroy the ghosts. Unfortunately, killing a possessed human merely releases the Martian spirit to possess another human. The team eventually decides to blow up a nuclear reactor to vaporize all of the ghosts.

Ballard's crew, along with survivors who gathered in the jail, are eventually wiped out by the miners. Only Ballard and Williams are left after Sergeant Jericho and the other officers, along with the two train operators, are killed when they try to finish the fight. Not wanting to be blamed for the massacre, Williams handcuffs Ballard to her cot and escapes from the train. Returning home, Ballard delivers her report, which her superiors refuse to believe. While Ballard recuperates in the hospital, the released spirits, unharmed from the nuclear explosion, attack the city.

Cast

• Ice Cube as James 'Desolation' Williams
• Natasha Henstridge as Lieutenant Melanie Ballard
• Jason Statham as Nathan Jericho
• Clea DuVall as Bashira Kincaid
• Pam Grier as Commander Helena Braddock
• Joanna Cassidy as Dr. Arlene Whitlock
• Richard Cetrone as Big Daddy Mars
• Liam Waite as Michael Descanso
• Duane Davis as Uno
• Lobo Sebastian as Dos
• Rodney A. Grant as Tres
• Peter Jason as McSimms
• Wanda De Jesus as Akooshay
• Robert Carradine as Rodal

Production

Although Mars has a day/night cycle almost identical in length to Earth's, most of the film is set at night. Mars is shown only once in the daytime, in a flashback when a scientist describes how she found and opened a "Pandora's Box," unleashing the alien spirits.

Much of the film was shot in a New Mexican gypsum mine. The pure white gypsum had to be dyed with thousands of gallons of biodegradable red food dye to recreate the Martian landscape.

Release

Critical reception

The film met with generally negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 21% based on 103 reviews, with the consensus stating "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is not one of Carpenter's better movies, filled as it is with bad dialogue, bad acting, confusing flashbacks, and scenes that are more campy than scary." Rob Gonsalves of eFilmCritic.com suggested that the film was symbolic of 'Carpenter at rock bottom.' According to press reviews factors contributing to the box office failure of the film included "poor set designs, hammy acting and a poorly developed script".

Box office

The film opened at #9 in the North American box office in its opening weekend (8/24-26) with $3,804,452 and grossed $8,709,640 at the North American domestic box office, and $5,301,192 internationally, totaling $14,010,832 worldwide.

Soundtrack

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For the film's soundtrack, John Carpenter recorded a number of synthesizer pieces and assembled an all-star cast of guitarists (including thrash metal band Anthrax, virtuoso Steve Vai, master guitarist Buckethead, and former Guns N' Roses/current Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck) to record an energetic and technically proficient heavy metal score. Reaction to the soundtrack was mixed; many critics praised the high standard of musicianship and the strong pairing of heavy metal riffs with the film's action sequences, but complained about the overlong guitar solos, the drastic differences between the cues used in the film and the full tracks and the absence of any of the film's ambient synth score from the soundtrack CD.

Track listing

1. "Ghosts of Mars" (3:42) - Steve Vai, Bucket Baker & John Carpenter
2. "Love " (4:37) - Buckethead, Robin Finck, John Carpenter & Anthrax (Scott Ian, Paul Crook, Frank Bello & Charlie Benante)
3. "Fight Train" (3:16) - Robin Finck, John Carpenter & Anthrax
4. "Visions of Earth" (4:08) - Elliot Easton & John Carpenter
5. "Slashing Void" (2:46) - Elliot Easton & John Carpenter
6. "Kick Ass" (6:06) - Buckethead, John Carpenter & Anthrax
7. "Power Station" (4:37) - Robin Finck, John Carpenter & Anthrax
8. "Can't Let You Go" (2:18) - Stone (J.J. Garcia, Brian James & Brad Wilson), John Carpenter, Bruce Robb & Joe Robb
9. "Dismemberment Blues" (2:53) - Elliot Easton, John Carpenter & Stone
10. "Fightin' Mad" (2:41) - Buckethead & John Carpenter
11. "Pam Grier's Head" (2:35) - Elliot Easton, John Carpenter & Anthrax
12. "Ghost Poppin'" (3:20) - Steve Vai, Robin Finck, John Carpenter & Anthrax