The movie that left John Carpenter with “no passion whatsoever”
As far as true icons of American cinema go, it’s hard to look beyond the incredible impact that John Carpenter has had on his native country’s film scene. With some of the best action, horror and science-fiction movies to his name, Carpenter has carved out a legacy for himself that has ensured his future status as one of the all-time greats.
He’s shocked and tantalised countless audience members over a career spanning several decades with genuine masterpieces like Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York and Assault on Precinct 13. He has also contributed to such scores with an impressive degree of musical talent.
However, it’s fair to say that not every film that Carpenter has ever made has been the kind of work that he’d have a deep pride in. The legendary director once stated that this 2001 space western horror flick Ghosts of Mars sucked his passion for his craft right out of him.
“I got into movies because of a passion for cinema,” Carpenter told TimeOut back in 2008. “But after finishing my last film [Ghosts of Mars], I found myself as having no passion whatsoever: total burnout. By the time I got to the scoring stage, I looked like a zombie.”
“Who knows why? I didn’t take enough of a rest,” he added. “Also, the country was attacked—and I watched. My eyes were opened; I hadn’t observed anything for years. I needed to get away from the moviemaking process for a while.”
Ghosts of Mars was written, directed and scored by Carpenter and starred Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham and Pam Grier. The movie takes place on a colonised Mars in the 22nd century and sees a group of police officers, assisted by a captured criminal, fight against a mining colony that’s been possessed by the ghosts of the original Martians.
The movie was a box office bomb, earning just half of its $28million budget while also being on the receiving end of some awful reviews. However, Ghosts of Mars has since earned a cult-like following and has found its place within the weird western genre.
In the same interview, Carpenter spoke of his desire to get back into filmmaking. “I’m slowly putting my feet in the water again, with a new perspective,” he said. “Is there room for more movies like Escape from New York? I don’t know. You have to be subtle about that stuff because people don’t like to be preached to. But there may be. We’ll see.”
However, since that date, the iconic director has only helmed one project, the 2010 supernatural psychological horror The Ward, starring Amber Heard. So it looks as though Ghosts of Mars really did suck all the passion for filmmaking out of Carpenter and perhaps serves as the movie that ended his career.
Check out the trailer for Ghosts of Mars below.
