`Assault on Precinct 13" was writer/director John Carpenter's third film, after the science fiction parody `Dark Star', and before `Halloween' made him a household name and a horror superstar. It has just been reissued on dvd, with all of the bells and whistles, but for most people, the best part is just finally getting a cleaned-up wide-screen transfer on this 1976 film.
First off, there is no precinct 13 in `Assault on Precinct 13". There is just a nearly-deserted station house, with a couple of empty cells and some files left. Lt. Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker), newly transferred to Los Angeles, finds himself assigned to babysit there overnight. He's disappointed; he's in the big city to catch bad guys, not sit on boxes.
He's about to get his wish. An ambush the night before led to a shoot-out between cops and a members of a street gang called Street Thunder. The cops won, but others in the gang have decided to get revenge by assaulting the station house. They start by showing nothing is sacred, as a scene by an ice cream truck proves. The scene is violent, genuinely shocking, and shows that we are in the hands of a master. The gang begins sniping the station house just as a transfer truck containing a couple of death row inmates shows up. Soon Bishop and secretary Leigh (Laurie Zimmer) find themselves overwhelmed and outgunned, so they decide to let the prisoners, including the notorious killer Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston) help out.
That's it, folks. That's the plot. The acting is cardboard, character development is on the first-grade level, and the special effects are primitive by today's standards. But this film has something that all the CGI-encrusted films of the last couple of years can't match: tension, suspense, an escalating sense of fear, and gritty realism.
The gang members slowly increase their force, and the phones in the station house have been disconnected and the power shut off. Other precincts get phone calls about shots being fired, but when cruisers drive by the bad guys recede into the shadows, making it look like nothing is happening. The gang members riddle the station house with bullets, then prepare to go in and finish off whoever's left alive. There are dozens of bad guys and a couple of good guys with few weapons and less ammo. The film ratchets the suspense until it reaches breaking point. Carpenter uses an early murder to show us that no one is safe, and we are putty in his hands until the violent conclusion.
The film is still a classic because it still holds up. Carpenter uses the same techniques he used on `Halloween': simplicity and pacing are the keys to this one, as well as his own score, not as memorable as `Halloween's but still effective. The visuals are stark and chilling, helping to build a mounting sense of doom. This movie did action in a 1970s style, one that most of today's film makers should study. Escaping fireballs and dodging flipping cars is exciting, but not very suspenseful. Carpenter pulls the carpet out from under us with the first gang shooting and never lets up. This one is a marvel of pulp film making, and I dread the day when they announce the inevitable remake, with it's fireballs, flipping cars, and CGI overkill.
First off, there is no precinct 13 in `Assault on Precinct 13". There is just a nearly-deserted station house, with a couple of empty cells and some files left. Lt. Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker), newly transferred to Los Angeles, finds himself assigned to babysit there overnight. He's disappointed; he's in the big city to catch bad guys, not sit on boxes.
He's about to get his wish. An ambush the night before led to a shoot-out between cops and a members of a street gang called Street Thunder. The cops won, but others in the gang have decided to get revenge by assaulting the station house. They start by showing nothing is sacred, as a scene by an ice cream truck proves. The scene is violent, genuinely shocking, and shows that we are in the hands of a master. The gang begins sniping the station house just as a transfer truck containing a couple of death row inmates shows up. Soon Bishop and secretary Leigh (Laurie Zimmer) find themselves overwhelmed and outgunned, so they decide to let the prisoners, including the notorious killer Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston) help out.
That's it, folks. That's the plot. The acting is cardboard, character development is on the first-grade level, and the special effects are primitive by today's standards. But this film has something that all the CGI-encrusted films of the last couple of years can't match: tension, suspense, an escalating sense of fear, and gritty realism.
The gang members slowly increase their force, and the phones in the station house have been disconnected and the power shut off. Other precincts get phone calls about shots being fired, but when cruisers drive by the bad guys recede into the shadows, making it look like nothing is happening. The gang members riddle the station house with bullets, then prepare to go in and finish off whoever's left alive. There are dozens of bad guys and a couple of good guys with few weapons and less ammo. The film ratchets the suspense until it reaches breaking point. Carpenter uses an early murder to show us that no one is safe, and we are putty in his hands until the violent conclusion.
The film is still a classic because it still holds up. Carpenter uses the same techniques he used on `Halloween': simplicity and pacing are the keys to this one, as well as his own score, not as memorable as `Halloween's but still effective. The visuals are stark and chilling, helping to build a mounting sense of doom. This movie did action in a 1970s style, one that most of today's film makers should study. Escaping fireballs and dodging flipping cars is exciting, but not very suspenseful. Carpenter pulls the carpet out from under us with the first gang shooting and never lets up. This one is a marvel of pulp film making, and I dread the day when they announce the inevitable remake, with it's fireballs, flipping cars, and CGI overkill.