August 24, 2001 -- "Ghosts of Mars" is a run-of-the-mill sci-fi action flick except that it has more blood and gore than most. It is an average actioner with adequate acting and special effects and a bit of a horror slant. It is not unlike those low-budget post-apocalyptic sci-fi action flicks that abound in video stores. It's a popcorn movie because it lacks substance.

Veteran director John Carpenter ("H20," "Escape From L.A."), who has done much better before, for some reason felt the need to put his name on this slightly mean-spirited film which takes place in the future as earthlings are busy colonizing and terraforming (making the atmosphere and climate more like earth's) Mars. Natasha Henstridge of "Bounce" and "Species" stars as Melanie Ballard, a police officer sent to apprehend James "Desolation" Williams (played by Ice Cube of "Three Kings"). Williams is accused of murdering a number of people at a remote mining site.

Ballard's boss, Helena (Pam Grier of "Jackie Brown") and fellow cops including the tough Jericho Butler (Jason Statham of "Snatch"), ride into the Shining Canyon mining camp to collect Williams, who is being held in jail. They find the town mostly deserted, except for a bunch of beheaded corpses and a band of what appears to be murderous, sword-wielding punk rockers, and so the fun begins. Their job is to survive and catch the last train out of town. As you can tell by this description, this is essentially the same plot as that of many westerns and war movies. Us against them. Sci-fi fans will also recognize this plot from "Pitch Black" and a recent Martian film "Red Planet," both of which are superior to this film.

Unfortunately, the story is told through flashbacks, meaning you will be tipped off to some important plot elements right up front, like who is going to die and who will survive. There are few surprises. The so-called "ghosts" of Mars are uninteresting, and there is no character development to speak of. The film is quite dark and the special effects are adequate, but nowhere near as good as those in "Red Planet" or "Mission to Mars." The action sequences are also average. There are some interesting rippling fast-forward camera and editing effects by cinematographer Gary B. Kibbe and editor Paul C. Warschilka.

The script, by Larry Sulkis and Carpenter, tries to achieve a certain light, comic tone at times, and there is a spark of romance between Butler and Ballard, but that is offset by the relentless gore of heads and limbs being chopped off by the murderous ghosts. People die with all the heroic symbolism of chickens being slaughtered. Contrast that to the soldiers who died in "Aliens." We got to know those characters. Their deaths meant something. For the most part we don't get to know the characters in this film. The deaths don't have much impact.

One interesting thing about the film is that it portrays drug use in a favorable manner. This used to be pretty unusual in Hollywood until "American Beauty." I wonder if a trend is starting? The ending of this film is strange indeed. It doesn't really mesh with the rest of the film. Maybe it is intended to leave the door open for a sequel. The lead actors, Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge and Jason Statham all do fairly well with their limited roles. According to Upcoming movies, Courtney Love was originally to have been the star of this movie, but had to drop out because of an ankle injury. Henstridge fills in adequately. Her costumes, including sweaters, are cheesy enough for a cheap horror flick.

Despite all that, the film did hold my attention, except when I had to look away from the more bloody scenes, like a man shown slitting his own throat. You can call it edgy or gory, whatever it was, it was a little too much for me at times. The pace of the film was pretty fast and a certain level of action is maintained most of the way, which seems to work in the film's favor. This film rates a C. Put lots of butter on that popcorn.

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