‘Ghost Planet’ Review
Stars: Joe Mayes, Mark Hyde, Claudia Troy, Georgia Anastasia, Ulysses E. Campbell, Julie Kashmanian | Written and Directed by Philip J. Cook
“You just push the handle, drop into T Space, and take off to destinations unknown.” With these words Max Stone (Joe Mayes; Spent, A Christmas Cancellation) introduces us to the world of Ghost Planet. A world where he, his half-brother George (Mark Hyde; Despiser, Days of Our Lives), and their sister Julia (Claudia Troy; A Carolina Christmas, Joshua Tree) hunt for technology left behind by the Tesserans.
They were an alien race who mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind ships far beyond anything humans could develop. And, it looks like the trio have found a base full of them. And then a neutron star flares up, forcing them to abandon their discovery.
That was a year ago. Now George has developed some strange tumours, his insurance covers removing them, apart from the 90% deductible that is. And the loan Max took out, with one of his organs as collateral, has come due, and he’s not in a position to pay it back. A hover car chase to keep his body in one piece leaves one of the rep omen dead and Max, George in police custody, and Trudy (Georgia Anastasia; TechNous, Eternal Room Service) the mysterious woman who pulled the trigger is nowhere to be found. Things are officially looking desperate.
Writer/director Philip J. Cook (Beyond the Rising Moon, the Malice franchise) has created a world that’s part Blade Runner, part Babylon 5 and part Repo: The Genetic Opera. And, as with his fantasy Pungo: A Witch’s Tale, he’s very ambitious about putting that world on the screen, budget be damned. He’s come a long way in the four years since Pungo when it comes to putting it on the screen, too. For Ghost Planet, he’s used a mix of green screen, CGI, miniatures and some sets built on a sound stage.
The result is a somewhat improved version of the look achieved in 2004’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. It takes a bit of getting used to, but, with the entire film rendered that way, I did indeed get used to it. That lets the film’s actions span a futuristic Earth, deep space, and the mysterious planet they end up on after Trudy’s boss John Moesby (Ulysses E. Campbell; Three the Stereotyped Way, Captain America: The Winter Soldier) offers them, along with Trudy, a chance to go back and finish the job they started.
The result is a wonderfully pulpy, and I mean that in the best way, story that incorporates plot devices from vintage science fiction such as vanished alien races and space pirates, a girl named Naiad (Julie Kashmanian; Wind and Bone, Hemisphere) gives the film a touch of Aliens, and there’s also a touch of Mario Bava’s Planet of the Vampires, or if you prefer, Terrore Nello Spazio, one of the films that the original Alien drew from.
Ghost Planet does have a few issues, most noticeably some fairly clunky dialogue that spoils a couple of scenes. The characters’ clothes and looks are also very current-day looking, there’s no attempt to make them look the least bit futuristic. In some ways, that’s smart, it avoids the laughs attempts to predict future fashions frequently get years later. But it’s also odd seeing someone sitting on the deck of a spaceship wearing jeans and a hoodie or a backwards baseball cap.
Of course, if you’re old enough to remember when science-fiction films tended to be incredibly low-budget affairs made out of a passion for the genre rather than to tap into box office trends, you might see that as a nostalgic plus as well. Which is fitting, because at its heart, Ghost Planet is an updated version of films like Planet of the Dinosaurs and Dark Star. More importantly, it’s one that gets the balance between telling an entertaining story and cheesy nostalgia right.
***½ 3.5/5
Indie Rights has released Ghost Planet on various platforms, including Tubi.
______
