Ahoyba folksa, Harrya Herea, Iba gotta tella thata Quinta isa herea toa givea youa looka ata Johna Carpenter'sa GHOSTSa OFa MARSa! I'vea gota strangea problema... Gotta goa... here'sa Quinta...
Ahoy there, squirties. 'Tis I, the terribly crusty seaman, Quint, here, this time with a little peek at John Carpenter and Larry Sulkis' shooting draft of John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars.
You folks might remember the extensive coverage of my Ghosts of Mars set visit that ran here a while back... if you don't... check it out here! It's a lot of fun. Anyway, I got to see some amazing stuff like Carpenter directing a jump scare, Greg Nicotero making up a "Mean Bastard of a Warrior" and Natasha Henstridge telling me not to mate on the first date... confused? Go read the story, you'll be... erm... enlightened.
That set was pretty closed, but thanks to the efforts of one Gregory Nicotero, I got to go and hang out for a day. Now, I hadn't read the script at that point. I saw Carpenter clearly making a kickass movie and I thirsted to know all the juicy details about the story. I begged Greg... "Please," I said. "Give me a script!" To which Greg replied, "Um, no. Are you smoking dope? Do you know how much trouble I'd get into?" "Pleeeeaaassseee... at least let me take a peek!" He just shook his head, amazed at my level of geekiness apparently.
All my begging and pleading came to nothing and I can't say that I blame him. I mean, the man did a lot by getting me onset in the first place. He showed me some cool shit, introduced me to some cool people... Above and beyond the call of duty. As much as I wanted to read the script, I also didn't want to get my buddy into trouble. So, I let common sense and personal dignity stop my pleading after a few... hours... and just told myself, "Self, you'll just have to wait 'til it comes out, bud... Just like the rest of the Carpenter geeks out there."
Well... 9 months later lookie what my new super script source (responsible for most of the recent script reviews I've done) drops into my crusty lap. Thaaaat's right, dude. Ghosts of Mars. You better believe I tore into that sucker. I was so excited. I had seen basically all the continuity Polaroids while on set, so I could see all the characters. Pam Grier's cop character Helena, Ice Cube's badass criminal character Desolation Williams, Clea DuVall's rookie cop character Bashira... all these people I didn't see working that day, with the exception of Cube who shot a few scenes early on in the day, but because of the peak I got at the continuity Polaroids I was able to read the script and see these other characters as they will appear in the film.
So, I had all these characters in full outfit, from different points in the movie, in my mind. I saw a lot of the Martian Warrior designs, photos, masks, costumes... even got to see the "Mean Bastard" one up close and personal. I had also seen some pictures from other sets used. Basically I had all the ingredients in my head and reading the script was like reading a recipe. I knew how all the ingredients tasted individually, but it wasn't until I mixed them together in the proper proportions, told to me by the detailed recipe, that I finally got an idea of how the meal would turn out. Wasn't that a clever analogy, ladies and gentlemen?
This script is pure Carpenter, the perfect fodder for this man to put to film. There are aspects of Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, Escape From New York with a tad of They Live, Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness thrown in for good measure. The story is told in flashback (a la In the Mouth of Madness) which is a method that doesn't always work for me. However, Sulkis and Carpenter's usage of flashback as the main storytelling device works splendidly as written, clarifying certain plot points, helping the pacing of some scenes, creating tension, etc.
The story is about a cop, Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), from Earth who is now working on Mars in the year 2176. The society has changed from Patriarchal to Matriarchal, with men and straight women considered lesser people than the rest of the female population. This point is made, but is by no means the driving force of the story. Basically, I'd say it's there to give women some kickass roles and to put a twist on this usually male driven action/sci-fi/horror genre.
Anyway, Melanie is part of a task force that goes to Shining Canyon, an out of the way colony on Mars, to pick up a dangerous prisoner, James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube). When they get there, it seems the whole colony has disappeared. When they go in search of the colonists they find weird animalistic "art" and pieces of colonists. Let me just put it this way, the group finds their first dismembered arm on page 16 and their first decapitated body on page 18 of a 109 page script.
Most of the script takes place in the town's jail. Our group finds that the only people left in the colony were in jail, some there for breaking the law, one or two there to hide from whatever swept through the little town. Two of the most notable characters found in that jail are Dr. Arlene Whitlock (Joanna Cassidy) who knows something more about what happened to Shining Canyon than she's letting on and the aforementioned Desolation Williams.
Let's start with Desolation, played by Ice Cube. Badass. He's a complete and total badass in the same Carpenter tradition as Snake Plisskin, Rowdy Roddy Piper and even Jack Burton. At least on paper. I hope Cube can do justice to the character, but from what I've heard from those deeply involved on the film, I don't have to worry at all. He's supposed to be pretty cool in this film. His character most resembles Snake Plisskin, with the grey camouflage pants and black tank top. He looked pretty cool and buff onset, although I didn't get a terribly good look at him in person being as he was constantly surrounded by 3 huge, black bodyguards.
Needless to say, he fills in a very Riddick-type character, a badass prisoner that is forced to put all aside and join the main group against a plethora of vicious alien bastards if any of them expect to survive their predicament.
Natasha Henstridge's Melanie Ballard character... She is a badass. Takes no shit and kicks a lot of ass, yet comes across (on paper) with an underlying feeling of vulnerability. I think Henstridge has the beauty (obviously) to pull off this character as written and I hope to the Gods of Cinema that she doesn't fumble the ball when it comes to the acting. 'Cause from what I've seen of her in person and in her past work, she's got most of the bases covered... She really seemed to throw herself into her role while I was onset, making her stunt double sit on bench while she was getting the crap kicked out of her, walking away from a take sweaty and bruised. I would hope that if she's throwing that much physically into her character that she'd follow it up with some really good acting, but I haven't seen the movie, so I can't say for sure. Time will tell.
Our group soon find out that they're trapped in a town who's inhabitants were possessed by some kind of evil spirits until their ride returns... in four hours. The movie gets pretty intense from here on out. We are literally given 20 or so characters that will not survive 'til the closing credits and all of them die in gruesome, amazing ways. The action in this script is gritty, tough and no holds barred. Why lookie, Quint's got an excerpt for you! Check it out:
THE WARRIOR SWINGS HIS SWORD. MELANIE DUCKS IT AND GRABS HIS ARM, BREAKING IT WITH A SWIFT SHOULDER TO WARRIOR'S ELBOW. STILL HOLDING THE SWORD ARM, SHE KICKS DOWN ON HIS KNEE, BREAKING THAT AS WELL. THE WARRIOR ROARS.
SHE STRUGGLES BUT CAN'T WREST THE SWORD FROM HIS HANDS, SO SHE SMASHES HIS NOSE WITH A BACKHAND FIST AND LEAPS BACK...
I know that's not much, but damn... Pretty hardcore, huh? And that's not even a major fight. If this were a kung-fu flick, this'd be along the lines of the hero fighting the person below the person our hero would have to defeat to go onto the top bad guy. So, about a 3rd rung encounter. No big deal.
The above passage mentions a "Warrior." Who is that, you may be asking yourself. The basic idea is these "ghosts" can possess any living being. When they do so, they go through stages, a sort of metamorphosis. It begins with the possessed person chanting, making weird hand gestures, etc. The next step is self mutilation. Piercing, slicing, etc. Then the last step is becoming a full on warrior who seems to feel no pain and has only one urge, to kill all living things. To give you an idea of what this entails in the script, here's the last little bit I'm gonna give ya'.
A YOUNG WOMAN SITS ON THE FLOOR INSIDE THE ROOM. NEAR HER IS A PILE OF KITCHEN UTENSILS, TOOLS, KNIVES, RAZOR BLADES. BLOOD TRICKLES DOWN HER NECK AND SHOULDERS FROM THE MULTIPLE PIERCINGS SHE HAS SILENTLY ENDURED. SHE'S IN THE MIDDLE OF RITUAL SELF-MUTILATION. INDUSTRIAL BODY PIERCING.
THIS IS THE SECOND STAGE OF GHOST POSSESSION, A COMPULSION TO DECORATE ARMS, LEGS AND FACE WITH SHARP METAL OBJECTS PIERCING THE SKIN
HER FACE IS HALF RED, SMEARED WITH LIPSTICK
AND SHE IS FILING HER TEETH TO POINTS.
Each and every one of these Warriors are vicious and hard to handle. Even worse, when you kill one the ghost that's inside will fly out and inhabit anything that's living and standing too close. Luckily, these suckers can't travel through solid objects, but the fact that killing one of these ugly fucks will just make the situation worse is a really awesome idea that really works well and makes for some nailbiting scenes in the script.
By the way, Harry's cameo in the film appears on page 43 of the script. Bound to be his most memorable screen appearance to date.
THE ENDING. Awesome, awesome, awesome. The very end of this movie kicks ass, the perfect ending to this story. I love it! Overall, this is a perfect John Carpenter script and with any luck at all it'll be the master's return to greatness... at least in the eyes of some his more cynical fans out there.
Alright, squirts. That just about covers it. I think I'm gonna go push off, drop my nets, throw in a line or two and see what I can bring up for you folks. My seaman sense tells me whatever I pull from the dark depths will be pretty damn cool and you fine seaman and lovely mermaids will get a kick out of it next time I dock. 'Til that day, squirts, this is Quint bidding you all a fine farewell and adieu.
-Quint
Tell me only the good things that come to mind about your mother!
