Ghosts Of Mars, (2001, Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube) 

Ghosts Of Mars takes us to the Martian town of Chryse City. A train pulls in with one passenger: cop Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge). She was a member of a team sent to a small mining community to bring back convicted killer Desolation Williams (Ice Cube). She’s called in front of a court of enquiry, and John Carpenter’s sci-fi horror goes into flashback as she tells her story…

Arriving at the mining camp, Ballard and her team find it empty but for corpses. Then they find a lone survivor who tells them what’s happened: mining revealed a doorway that released the ghosts of the long-dead original inhabitants, who invaded the bodies of the humans, turning them into zomboid killing machines, wreaking revenge on those who dared lay claim to their planet. Now the team and their prisoner must fight for survival as the Ghosts of Mars attack…

The film is gloriously OTT with lashings of gore from one of the masters of horror. Carpenter is quite happy to pay homage to himself, referencing Assault of Precinct 13 , The Thing and Village of the Damned as the action unfolds with both Henstridge (ironically a bloodthirsty alien in Species ) and Ice Cube holding centre screen as their companions (including the iconic Pam Grier) meet their ends.

production details
USA / 98 minutes / 2001

Director: John Carpenter
Writers: John Carpenter, Larry Sulkis

cast
Natasha Henstridge as Lieutenant Melanie Ballard
Ice Cube as Desolation Williams
Jason Statham as Sgt Jericho Butler
Clea DuVall as Bashira Kincaid
Pam Grier as Commander Helena Braddock
Joanna Cassidy as Whitlock
Richard Cetrone as Big Daddy Mars
Rosemary Forsyth as Inquisitor
Liam Waite as Michael Descanso
Duane Davis as Uno
Lobo Sebastian as Dos
Rodney A. Grant as Tres
Peter Jason as McSimms
Wanda De Jesus as Akooshay
Doug McGrath as Benchley