Quartile rating: 5/10 · 1 rating
In 2176, a Martian police unit is sent to pick up a highly dangerous criminal at a remote mining post. Upon arrival, the cops find the post deserted and something far more dangerous than any criminal — the original inhabitants of Mars, hellbent on getting their planet back.
Ghosts of Mars is a late-career John Carpenter effort that largely disappoints across the board. The plot recycles Western and zombie-siege conventions without much invention, using a nested flashback structure that feels gimmicky rather than clever. The acting is uneven — Ice Cube is serviceable but most performances feel flat or campy without embracing the camp intentionally. Cinematography is workmanlike at best; Mars never feels convincingly alien or atmospheric. The concept of ancient Martian spirits possessing colonists has potential novelty but is executed in a generic, slasher-adjacent way that squanders it. The ending wraps up with little payoff or resonance. A mid-tier genre misfire that fails to capitalize on its premise or Carpenter's strengths.