Harry here, and ya know folks... there's a lot of Carpenter talk right now.. because this coming FRIDAY THE 13th of October has one helluva line up at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles with Carpenter and nearly everyone still around from the making of HALLOWEEN taking the stage to tell em how it was and how it went. Well, Thomas Dunson here went along for quite a bit of the filming of Carpenter's latest film... GHOSTS OF MARS, and he's here to lay it out for us. Sounds like shooting and production has been going quite well. Here ya go....
Hiya Harry,
It's been awhile....I don't have the knack for writing witty reviews like the rest of your gang but I thought I would send you a little info on GOM. Chances are, this is old stuff but if not, then enjoy.
In all honesty, I'm not a big fan of Carpenter's films but I am definitely a fan of both John and his wife, Sandy King. I have a great deal of respect for his way of working and Sandy's comittment to seeing John's vision come to life. I spent a great deal of time on the set, on location shooting from 6pm to 6am and 2 weeks in a wharehouse shooting from 3pm to 3am. The crew was extremely professional and the atmosphere was very relaxed for an LA production. It helped to have an excellent AD staff and the UPM maintained an outwardly appearance of calm even when things were getting crazy.
As for the script, a page turner but your basic western formula...except it takes place on Mars and gets high marks on the drool meter for Natasha Henstridge playing the lead role. Jeff Imada coordinated a kick ass stunt team and the special effects alone will be worth the price of admission. I didn't see every single take but what I saw of Clea Duvall and Jason Statham was very good....both are charming and down to earth with Jason holding poker games with the crew and Clea doing time as a set PA. Hopefully, their best acting won't end up on the cutting room floor. Joanna Cassidy looks amazing and Cube was pretty much himself.
The set was totally amazing and will blow your mind when you see it. Add to that nearly a hundred extras dressed as ghost warriors, police and miners and you really get the feeling that you're on another planet. The train, complete with depot and interiors, had their very own SFX team and group of operators and they did an excellent job maintaining such a huge piece of machinery amidst the rain, wind and blowing gypsum.
The awesome special effects makeup and prosthetics was handled by KNB and the whole team is amazing. Several of the guys from makeup stunned the rest of the cast and crew after attending a local party one night and joining several other bands in a jam session blasting out some old ACDC tunes. The next day not only were they part of the highly respected KNB team but they were now rockstars and we have the photos to prove it.
They are finally back in LA and are scheduled to wrap shooting somewhere around the 19th of October and a release date in 2001. Anyway, sorry if this is old news.
Keep swingin'
Thomas Dunson
