That sentence about trashy movies wasnt there for no reason: If theres a sleazier horror SF movie than this one, then I'd be shocked to discover it. Many people were drawn in to it by a rather famous name pinned to the title. Yes, this is the black sheep of John Carpenters otherwise impressive work. The one movie that just plain sucks when compared to the rest of his output. There has been seemingly no effort made to make the looming threat seem real or as terrifying as its obviously supposed to be. The plot is composed with little to no attempt to make it compelling. The film is set in the second half of the 22nd century, and the story takes place on terraformed Mars. Were following two cops (one of whom is - yes - Jason Statham) trying to apprehend a criminal going by the name of Desolation. Come on! What criminal would take a nickname like that? He would be the laughing stock of the entire planet... Anyway, as our heroes go about their business, some stuff happens and ancient Martian ghosts possess the miners that were digging something. I dont really know because the plot is barely comprehensible even when you think about it. So, there are these self-mutilating possessed b*stards and our badass heroes have to murder them all. Or something. After some gun-toting around the surface for a bit, the group decides to push through to the nearby nuclear reactor to blow all the spirits up. Every semblance of logic is lost by this point, and in the end, only Desolation and a female cop (Ice T and Natasha Henstridge) survive because... oh, who cares?
