the plot doesn not fully make sense and there be a lack of suspense and the acting be not spectacular and the big finale be barely a finale at all . sad to see john carpenter have to revert to the the technique in which sudden appearance of off screen subject or object that be plainly visible to the character on screen in order to give u a scare . although i do admit that i do jump out of my chair a bit in the scene where one of the martian police jump out from around the corner while the other officer be walk toward it and but that be such a cheap shot . the only scene where there be any slight amount of suspense be when we see the door off to the side slowly open up and but that just lead to another cheap shocker instead of build up on it . the flashback do not work because it be a big letdown a to how natasha henstridge end up be the only survivor on the train come back from the miner community . i guess it wasn not head toward the way alien be go to turn out . the rest of the early scene be pretty banal and john carpenter version of character building and lead up to the second half of the movie where it be basically a action slasher . i guess it might have work a a action movie and but then you would have to sit or sleep through the first half of the film .