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Review

A star rating of 2 out of 5.

With this sci-fi offering, Dark Star and The Thing director John Carpenter has been reduced to repeating his own movies. Set in the year 2176, this has feisty cop Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) arrive at an isolated Martian mining town to transport notorious killer "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube) to a high-security prison. The colonists are being possessed by the spooks of the title and transformed into zombies that look as threatening as refugees from a Kiss reunion concert. These Martian living dead then swarm in a siege hugely reminiscent of Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 - itself a homage to Howard Hawks's classic 1959 western Rio Bravo. There are moments of tension thanks to the director's self-penned soundtrack and the rusty-red hues in which everything is bathed. But there are no real surprises here, leaving only regrets that such a talented director is responsible.

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Credits

Cast

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James "Desolation" WilliamsIce Cube
Melanie BallardNatasha Henstridge
Jericho ButlerJason Statham
Bashira KincaidClea DuVall
Helena BraddockPam Grier
WhitlockJoanna Cassidy
Big Daddy MarsRichard Cetrone
InquisitorRosemary Forsyth

Crew

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DirectorJohn Carpenter

Details

Theatrical distributor
Columbia TriStar
Released on
2001-11-30
Languages
English
Guidance
Contains violence, swearing and drug abuse.
Available on
video, DVD and Blu-ray
Formats
Colour
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