Ghosts of Mars
Ghosts of Mars is an action/horror/science fiction film directed by John Carpenter and released in 2001. It stars Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Clea DuVall and Pam Grier.
Plotline
The movie is set in the early 23rd century. The planet Mars has been terraformed, allowing Humans can walk on the surface without having to wear pressure suits. The story concerns a police officer, Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) who is leading a small team to pick up and transport a prisoner named Desolation Williams (Ice Cube). Arriving at the remote mining town where Williams is being held, Ballard finds virtually all of the people missing. On investigating she discovers that the miners found an underground doorway which had been created by an ancient Martian civilisation. When the door was opened it released the titular "ghosts", disembodied spirits who posessed the miners. The Martians were apparently a brutal people dedicated to acts of random violence and the practice of self mutilation.
Ballard must fight off the attacking miners, escape the town, and if possible destroy the ghosts. Unfortunately all these tasks are complicated by the fact that killing a posessed Human merely releases the Martian spirit, which immediately posesses another Human.
Trivia
- Although mars has a day/night cycle almost identical in length to Earth's, the entire movie is set at night.
- Much of the movie was filmed in a gypsum mine in New Mexico. The pure white gypsum had to be dyed with thousands of gallons of biodegradable red food dye to recreate the appearance of the Martian landscape.