Barnes & Noble

Even after 18 feature films and numerous TV excursions, genre auteur John Carpenter still gives his fans what they want: action, adventure, and mayhem. In Ghosts of Mars, the seasoned writer/director/composer lets loose with all the cinematic suspense and violence one could expect from the man behind Halloween and Escape from New York. On Mars in the year 2025, Natasha Henstridge turns the tables on her role in Species, this time fighting for the humans (rather than killing them) as a police lieutenant who must escort dangerous prisoner Ice Cube from an abandoned mining town to the Martian capital. However, in a Pitch Black-meets-Poltergeist twist, the local excavation has set free some Martian spirits from an ancient burial ground -- and oh, are they angry! Soon both the prisoner and the police crew -- which includes Pam Grier, Jason Statham, and Clea Duvall -- must band together to fight for life and limb. Nonstop action and incredible effects have come to characterize Carpenter's movies for nearly 30 years now, and Ghosts of Mars proves no exception to the rule. R.J. Wafer

All Movie Guide

Writer and director John Carpenter returns to the mixture of science fiction and horror that made The Thing (1982) a success. Natasha Henstridge stars as Lt. Melanie Ballard of the Martian Police Force, a member of a law enforcement team two centuries in the future, dispatched to the remote colony of Shining Canyon. There, the most notorious criminal on Mars, James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube), awaits transport to a more secure jail. Besides Ballard, the other cops include the rookie Bashira (Clea Duvall), hotshot and fast talker Jericho (Jason Statham), tough veteran and squad leader Helena (Pam Grier), and reliable soldier Descanso (Liam Waite). Once Ballard and her companions arrive in Shining Canyon, however, they discover that it's a literal ghost town. It seems that an archaeologist team led by Professor Whitlock (Joanna Cassidy) has uncovered an ancient relic at a nearby dig site, unleashing the vengeful spirits of the planet's long-ago warrior inhabitants, which have now possessed the bodies of the human invaders and set about trying to destroy them. After her team is decimated by the Martian specters, Ballard is forced to turn for help to the one person she can't really trust: Williams. Ghosts of Mars screenwriter Larry Sulkis broke into the film business as producer of the satirical commercials in Carpenter's They Live (1988). Karl Williams

Chicago Sun-Times

The payoff is a series of well-staged action sequences, made atmospheric by the rusty red atmosphere which colors everything. At one point the cops barricade themselves inside the mining camp's police station, which will remind Carpenter fans of his first feature, Assault on Precinct 13. Roger Ebert

Product Details

• UPC: 043396295315
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:38:00
• Sales Rank: 28,913

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Ghosts of Mars / Vampires

Features: