The wild-west inspiration is obvious.

It could just as easily have been made as a "regular" horror-western, and perhaps a remake/reimaging will make it so.

The sets are OK, the CGI is so-so.

The actors are doing a decent job and all in all, the film accomplishes what it sets out to do: A two-fisted action-romp with a splash of horror and gore.

It's not high art but it is silly fun and good enough for an evening along with popcorn and soda.

Nobody ever calls 'The Hustler' 'Robert Rossen's The Hustler', despite that being what it says on the credits; yet this is routinely filed under 'J' for 'John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars', although by then calling it that was a warning rather than a recommendation.

I've long contended that 'Assault on Precinct 13' (1976) would be considered one of the great sci-fi movies had it simply begun with an opening caption identifying it as being set in 1980. (I'm sure it's not by chance this is set in 2176.)

This visceral and foul mouthed mixture of Carpenter's earlier classic and 'Escape from New York' (complete with a noisy rock score by the director and retro wipes and dissolves),with sets and costumes inspired by 'Planet of the Vampires', is marginally less mediocre than most of his later films, has a ballsy heroine (with a scar on her neck in homage to the one on his nose inflicted on Jack Nicholson in 'Chinatown'),a satisfying number of post-menopausal women in positions of authority. And a cool ending.

It is the year 2176 and the planet Mars is gradually being terraformed but a series of incidence suggest the planet isn't as dead as previously thought. A train arrives at its destination on autopilot; the only person aboard is Lt. Melanie Ballard; a police officer handcuffed to a bunk. During an inquiry she tells what happened.

She and other police officers had been dispatched to a remote mining settlement to collected a dangerous criminal; James 'Desolation' Williams. On arrival they find the town strangely empty... then they start finding body parts. I soon emerges that the only people alive are those in the jail; whatever killed everybody else couldn't get to them. Police and prisoners are forced to form an uneasy alliance as they learn what happened to everybody else. Something ancient has been awakened and it doesn't appear to want people on Mars. It can possess those it comes into contact with and if that host is killed move onto another. The group will have to think fast if they are to survive.

From early on it is clear that this isn't a great movie; the dialogue is forced, the plot feels cliché and the effects look low budget. At first I wondered if I'd made a mistake getting this DVD... but gradually it started to grow on me. As others have said this is basically 'Assault on Precinct 13' remade as a space-western; something that probably shouldn't work but strangely did. The possessed individuals attacking are suitably menacing; they can't be reasoned with and killing them just makes you a candidate for possession. The action scenes are suitably intense and the way the story is told by the apparent sole survivor doesn't make the odds look good for anybody else. The cast is okay; Jason Statham, in an early role, is probably the best as Sgt Jericho Butler... it is little surprise that his acting career since has eclipsed the rest of the cast. Overall I'd say this was better than I expected... not great but it has the makings of a cult classic.