John Howard Carpenter’s illustrious career is well-known. Carpenter has always been an unsung hero in terms of economic success, but his films have inspired a generation of directors, including Quentin Tarantino. Although he is not as well-known or successful as Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese, he has a cult following.
Unfortunately, many of his great films did not receive the critical acclaim they deserved upon their initial release, and only came to be appreciated with time. It would be incorrect to try to describe this figure based on his Academy Award wins or box office records, because his films were all about defying convention.
With pictures like Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York, They Live, and many others, he dared to break new ground in the horror and slasher genres. Carpenter’s strongest attribute as a director was his ability to create suspense and create an air of paranoia through simple moments. His films have impacted today’s generation of filmmakers, and he is now regarded as a horror icon with a slew of underappreciated films.
How can we overlook the space horror B-movie classic, Ghosts of Mars, when we’re talking about underappreciated films? Critics and audiences alike misunderstood and mocked it. Indeed, the film’s various flaws, such as the campy visual effects and stiff acting performances, are deserving of the criticism it has gotten.
However, there’s more to this film than meets the eye, and in this video, we’ll teach you everything there is to know about this underappreciated treasure from the seasoned director.
First, Let’s Explore the Story Of Ghosts Of Mars In Detail
The story takes place in the latter half of the twenty-first century, when the atmosphere of Mars has been greatly altered to accommodate human existence. People live and work all across Mars, even mining the planet for natural riches, as it has become the manifest destiny of an over-populated Earth.
The society is matriarchal, with women occupying the majority of leadership posts. Lt. Melanie Ballard, played by Natasha Henstridge, is a police officer who is sent to a mining outpost to supervise the transportation of a notorious prisoner, James Williams, played by Ice Cube. However, upon her team’s arrival, Melanie discovers that something strange has happened, and the people of the region are missing.
She learns that these people had discovered a secret underground doorway that was created by the ancient Martian civilization. The portal released the spirits or ghosts that possessed the miners. These workers then committed horrific acts of violence and self-mutilation. Things take an ugly turn when the team leader Helena Braddock, played by Pam Grier, is murdered.
Now, Melanie has to take command and fight off the zombie-like possessed miners. To make matters worse, when a possessed miner is killed, the spirit simply moves on to control another human, forcing the crew to resort to detonating a nuclear bomb in an attempt to extinguish all the ghosts.
Ballard’s entire crew is wiped out by the possessed miners in the ensuing deadly confrontations. Melanie herself is on the verge of being possessed, but a medicine saves her. She concludes that the spirits of Mars are attacking because they regard humans as intruders who want to wipe out all human life on the planet.
Williams seeks to avoid being implicated for the killing by attempting to flee with only the prisoner and Melanie alive. Melanie manages to return home, but her seniors do not seem to buy her outrageous report of what happened out at the outpost!
As she is recovering in the hospital, the ghosts attack the city, and we learn that the nuclear explosion failed to destroy them. Now, Williams and Ballard must fight together to survive, forgetting their past enmity!
It Was Going To Be A “Escape From L.A” Sequel
If you’ve seen John Carpenter’s post-apocalyptic movie Escape from L.A., you’ll know that the finale depicted the world in chaos. It was a follow-up to the cult classic Escape from New York, and the conclusion depicted a society devoid of technology, with widespread disorder. The iconic character of Snake Plissken, the protagonist of the films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., had future plans for John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell.
The duo even commented on the possibility of a third film in the series, which had a potential title of Escape from Earth. They felt that it was only reasonable that Snake Plissken had to leave the planet the next time around.
Unfortunately, Escape from L.A was a box-office failure, and this stalled the future plans for the franchise for the time being. A few years later, rumors were going around about Paramount trying to resurrect the series, with another apocalyptic drama titled Escape from Earth.
Fans believed that this would connect the dots and the future of Snake Plissken would be detailed within this movie. However, these rumors were never validated, and eventually died out. Ghosts of Mars is somewhat of an edited sequel to the series. In fact, it is believed that the script for the sequel to Escape from L.A was repurposed and used for Ghosts of Mars. The film was originally supposed to be called Escape from Mars, but the failure of the previous film prompted a change in the title.
We’ve even heard rumours that the character of Snake Plissken was cut out of the script due to the film’s poor response in Los Angeles. As a result, the project was repackaged, with Snake being replaced by Ice Cube’s James “Desolation” Williams.
Although British newcomer Jason Statham
It was considered for the character of James Williams, the filmmakers preferred Ice Cube because to his popularity. He’d previously found success in films like Anaconda and Friday, and he was favoured for his ability to nail action scenes.
Statham, on the other hand, is now a well-known action actor who has starred in a number of successful films. The parallels between James ‘Desolation’ Williams and Snake Plissken are striking. Even the costume is a rip-off, leading many to believe that this was originally going to be Escape from Mars.
The role of the junkie cop, Lt. Melanie Ballard, was supposed to go to Courtney Love and not Natasha Henstridge. While we don’t know for sure what got her off the project, rumors suggest that it could have been the result of a broken foot. Other stories suggest that Love was not up to the task, and her efforts were found lacking, leading to her replacement.
Henstridge’s boyfriend already had a role in the movie, and he had suggested her name for Melanie’s character. She was on board just a week before the production process took off.
John Carpenter is responsible for the inclusion of the Martian ghost. After his favourite character was no longer involved in the production, he felt the need for something else. John Eaves, who was also the concept artist for Star Trek, created the concept artwork.
There’s enough evidence to believe the script was altered from a previous story. The probable source is a British film called Quatermass and the Pit, written by Nigel Kneale, an author whose works were admired by John Carpenter. The two had even worked together for movies like Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
To avoid potential lawsuits, there were enough alterations made by Carpenter, but the similarity in the storyline is hard to miss. You could say that the final movie was a combination of his previous plans for a sequel to Escape from L.A, and the story behind the British film.
While this movie turned to be awesome, we cannot help but wonder if the success of Escape from L.A would have meant Snake Plissken fighting the Martian ghosts instead of James Williams! Wouldn’t that have looked out-of-this-world!
The Cast Is Filled With Amazing Bad-Ass Cheesy Actors!
A group full of cult superstars isn’t always known for delivering consistently strong acting performances. Ice Cube, Joanna Cassidy, Jason Statham, and Pam Grier were all in attendance, promising more than was given. The actors were undoubtedly torn between treating this as a serious film and a satire of traditional sci-fi action films.
In the final cut, they were stiff and constricted, frequently producing ludicrous performances that the crowd ripped apart. The primary character, Natasha Henstridge, leads the expedition to the mining colony of Shining Canyon.
The group soon discovers that Desolation is not the most dangerous thing out there, and an unthinkable horror awaits them. Could Courtney Love have been a better choice as the protagonist? Well, we never got to find out, as her foot was run over by the ex-wife of her boyfriend!
She surely would have been a perfect fit for the role, considering her performances in movies like Man on the Moon and The People Vs Larry Flint. The acting in the film has been heavily criticized and despite the best efforts of the cast, it really is hard to take the characters seriously at times.
John Carpenter Used Several Elements from his own works
If you analyze the narrative of Ghosts of Mars, it almost appears to be a smoothie comprised of Carpenter’s favorite things. If you’ve seen any of the director’s other films, the scary monsters in Prince of Darkness and the possessed miners have an uncanny resemblance.
The body-horror too is bound to remind you of The Thing. From the peppy music to the action, Ghosts of Mars bears all the signs of a typical Carpenterwork!
John Carpenter Took The Violence To The Next Level!
Without violence, a John Carpenter film is like a burger without the patties! While he prefers suspense to gore, he always includes at least one unsettling sequence with a lot of bloodshed. Ghosts of Mars are no exception, and the violence is fairly appropriate considering the narrative.
It begins with the spirits of long-dead Martians taking up residence in human bodies. The possessed people are hell-bent on annihilating the human population on Mars, whom they regard as invaders who have taken over their homeland. It’s only natural that they will resort to the most heinous forms of retaliation in their quest for vengeance.
We observe them decapitating or pulling off their victims’ arms and other parts, and they seem to relish it. The Frisbee-type thing that they use is a potent weapon, never offering much of a chance of defense to the opponent.
Their improvised swords also delivered some significant damage, and there are some scenes that are just not meant for the squeamish. One particular scene that deserves mention is when Pam Grier’s head is mounted on a spike, though many other members of the cast got some gruesome deaths too! However, the combat scenes could have been handled better than they were – at times it looked like a mosh-pit in a rock concert, where two groups fight it out!
We were reminded of Hellraiser as the possessed miners maimed themselves by striking needles across their faces. The insects’ self-inflicted cuts, as well as the fact that they enjoy suffering, brought up memories of the terrifying Cenobites.
The special effects of Ghosts of Mars were judged to be inadequate, but they did not hold back when it came to accentuating the horrific moments. Some critics have speculated that these episodes were clues of the legendary director’s mid-life crisis, but we disagree. He purposefully took the violence to the next level, because the premise of the film did not allow for them to be normal.
You surely couldn’t expect demons of Mars to behave like the usual villain from Earth! No matter how much people criticize the movie, the action scenes and the grotesque violence stand out for us and we appreciate the out-of-the-box thinking that went into these aspects.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
It’s easy to dismiss a film because it’s not flawless, but we need to figure out what went wrong! It’s not that the movie was completely rubbish; there were a few moments that helped it gain cult status over time.
The premise was unusual, and there was a point of view that suggested humans were in the wrong here. They were the invaders, and the Mars spirits were simply attempting to restore what was rightfully theirs! When you look at the big picture, the human side, like Starship Troopers, doesn’t deserve much pity.
The sets looked impeccable, and the lighting did make it feel like another planet. The filmmakers used a gypsum mine in New Mexico to portray Mars, and the look of the planet was definitely one of the highlights of the movie. Gallons of food coloring was used to stain the rocks red so that they resembled those of the planet, and the exterior shotslooked particularly terrific at night.
The violence, as we said, was necessary and used to a good effect. The suspense never lets up throughout the film, and every moment is full of surprises as the audience waits with baited breath for the worst to happen. Some story twists were particularly brilliant, such as the one involving Ballard’s drug issue.
We initially dismissed it as a minor story device, but later on, when she is possessed, we discover the true nature of her addiction. Someone pops a pill in her mouth, and she escapes the terrible possession. Her drug trips and visions did make for some beautiful psychedelic scenes in the middle of all the madness.
But, of course, the movie has some glaring loopholes that shouldn’t have been ignored. One of the main things that struck us was the maniacal shooting at the possessed miners. Sure, it looked cool when Ice Cube and his fellow comrades launched a flurry of bullets at the opponent!
However, keep in mind that when their present host was destroyed, the spirits were able to immediately take control of another body. As a result, it’s pointless to keep shooting at the swarms of possessed men who appear.
Shooting them in the legs or arms would be less perilous, but the characters were unconcerned about this. In fact, Desolation brought this up at one point, but the very next moment, we see them shooting at the enemy like they have an endless supply of ammo!
Why Ghosts Of Mars Deserves Attention By B-Movie Lovers?
If you enjoy John Carpenter’s work or B-movies in general, you will enjoy this flick. We’ve previously discussed the film’s excellent aspects, but there are a few more reasons to see it. If the film had been released in the 1980s, it would have been considered one of the best works by a talented director. However, the timing spoiled everything and made it feel out of place.
It’s a well veiled siege story in which the filmmaker nourishes the settlers vs. natives conflict! The locals are depicted as wild monsters who must be exterminated, which makes the film sickeningly attractive.
The characters do not mince words when they speak about their intentions to dominate the planet. The innovative use of this concept is where Ghosts of Mars succeeds. The human hosts are made to look pretty entertaining, somewhat of a mix between zombies and murderous Vikings.
The film’s entertainment value is enhanced by the odd body changes and mutilations, as well as the weaponry used and the unbridled brutality. Every time a human host is slaughtered, the audience is left on the edge of their seats, waiting to discover who will be the next victim to be possessed.
This tension-filled atmosphere is where Carpenter recalls the golden touch that he had used once to make classics like The Thing.
The CGI in this movie is pathetic, and the special effects are disappointing, considering the film was made in a time when technology in this area was rapidly advancing. However, we will stand up for the effects simply because they have aged well.
B-movie fans continue to defend the model sets, practical effects, and raw feel of the sequences as a great return to a golden era. Yes, the narrative is repetitive after a point and it feels like a long-drawn slog, but just for the glimpses of brilliance, this movie is worth a watch for all B-movie lovers out there!
Our Final Words
Ghosts of Mars has received some harsh criticism and has had a mainly unfavourable reception. Carpenter was chastised for falling short of his own lofty standards, with critics calling it a schlocky, plodding shoot-em-up with no coherent plot.
Even Ice Cube was dismissive of the movie and later remarked that he was a part of the production solely because of the director’s notoriety. The director, on the other hand, had a retort to every of the harsh criticism.
He explained that he wanted to make an enjoyable action film that was purposefully goofy and campy, so he put it over-the-top and included some tongue-in-cheek comedy. When others do it, people appreciate and say it is a work well-done, but when John Carpenter tries his hand, criticisms pour in!
You see the hypocrisy here, don’t you? If you take our advice on this, you should try this movie out with an open mind. We’ve covered the flaws, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining! It didn’t become a cult classic for nothing, and you have to leave your judgmental self behind to appreciate the excellence of this film.
The finale leaves room for interpretation and teases a possible sequel. We may have seen Desolation Williams band up with Ballard to fight the possessed animals if this had been a commercial success. Wouldn’t that be a pretty sight, watching them wield their shiny machine guns and head into another apocalypse!