Flogging John Carpenter

* Ghosts of Mars

John Carpenter needs to flogged. Beaten straight up.

I know...I know.... He's the genius behind such genre classics as Halloween and Escape from New York. Hell, his remake of The Thing is one of my all time sci-fi favorites.

But that does not excuse the most recent downturn in quality.
Ghosts of Mars is a heap. A great festering heap.

Period.

To go into details would be a waste of time....suffice it to say that the undead of Mars are evil and angry - and happen to look a lot like refugees from Escape from L.A. (another recent JC abomination). Ice Cube and Natahsa Richardson slog through some of the most contrived dialogue written - and drown in the mindless, violent dreck that ensues.

I hate this film. On the wayword advice of a friend, I ACTUALLY PAID FIVE DOLLARS to sit for a theatrical viewing - in hopes that it would succeed in the B movie vein it was so obviously made for. Sad to say, I would enjoy the company of sharp pair of scissors in the eye - rather than endure this one again.

Time for John to hang it up - and just let Ken Russell get on with his career.