Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writer:

John Carpenter (written by)

Release Date:

5 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

L.A.'s deadliest street gang just declared war on the cops.

Plot:

The lone inhabitants of an abandoned police station are under attack by the overwhelming numbers of a seemingly unstoppable street gang.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Electronic Music Score | Police Thriller | Disturbing | Prisoner Transport

Cast

Austin Stoker	...	Ethan Bishop
Darwin Joston	...	Napoleon Wilson
Laurie Zimmer	...	Leigh
Martin West	...	Lawson
Tony Burton	...	Wells
Charles Cyphers	...	Starker
Nancy Kyes	...	Julie (as Nancy Loomis)
Peter Bruni	...	Ice Cream Man
John J. Fox	...	Warden
Marc Ross	...	Patrolman Tramer
Alan Koss	...	Patrolman Baxter
Henry Brandon	...	Chaney
Kim Richards	...	Kathy
Frank Doubleday	...	White Warlord
Gilbert De la Pena	...	Chicano Warlord (as Gilbert De La Pena)

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13
The Anderson Alamo (USA) (working title)
The Siege (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2008) | Australia:R | Canada:18A (Manitoba) (re-rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) (original rating) | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 (cut) | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2005) | Norway:18 | South Korea:15 (cut) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:18 (original rating) (1976) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

CKK Corporation, The

Trivia:

Following the release of his first feature, Dark Star (1974), John Carpenter was approached by a group of investors who gave him carte blanche to make whatever kind of picture he wanted, albeit with a very limited budget. Although Carpenter wanted to make a Western, he knew he wouldn't have the resources to make a period piece. He wrote this film as a highly stylized, modern-day western, essentially remaking Rio Bravo (1959), which was directed by Carpenter's hero, Howard Hawks. Carpenter acknowledges this debt to Hawks and "Rio Bravo" by using the pseudonym of John T. Chance for his film editor's credit, which was the name of John Wayne's character in "Rio Bravo".

Goofs:

Factual errors: The silenced revolver that Wells uses would not be silenced. On the vast majority of revolvers have a gap between the cylinder and the barrel, through which some powder can escape, rendering the silencer ineffective.

Quotes:

Warden: [after punching Wilson out of a chair without the slightest provocation] He just slipped right out of the chair.
Napoleon Wilson: Yeah, I don't sit in chairs as well as I used to.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Sledge Hammer!: State of Sledge (#1.14)" (1987)

on par with its inspiration(s); a must see Carpenter classic

Ackowledged by it's own creator on the DVD, Assault on Precinct 13 is a bit more of a hybrid than just a sheer homage to Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo. It has traces of that (editing name, ho-ho), and of the Western specifics in bits of the storytelling devices and stereotypes. But it also has traces of the horror film, of the basic theme of demise by outside forces that not only rests in the best of zombie films but also in a lot of Carpenter's later work. What makes the film seem fresh today, even if it takes its time to get started in the first half hour, is how focused the action is around the story. Even with these basic characters- those with speaking parts closer to archetypes than not- it all works. It's a practically-perfect midnight movie.

You've got your good guys, a mix of cops and criminals (one of them, Darwin Joston's Napoleon Wilson, has enough style as an actor without even flinching at times). And you've got the ravenous gang (achem, zombies) out for blood after a gun down by a vengeful father. What surprising about how this very simple premise is set up, of a showdown in the worst pit of Los Angeles, is how it's all close to being just a pure exploitation film. But there's some thought or maybe just music to the film (not the actual music, though that's cool in its way) just as relentless as in Carpenter's other work, maybe even more in its rough way. It is a violent film, but the violence comes and goes leaving more room for talk than one might expect given it's by-a-thread rating. It's quite clear where the visual style would end up lending itself to in later years too (i.e. Reservoir Dogs).

When taking aside the occasional misstep, like an unneeded (suggested) sub-plot (not that Joston or Laurie Zimmer are bad actors, but they lack chemistry), Assault on Precinct 13 comes out without many scratches at all. It's a lean film at 90 minutes, with enough tension for two more. When it is shocking it shocks, when it wants a cheap, solid laugh or (more often) grin it comes through, and it doesn't pull any punches in letting you know here and there this is nothing more than a genre exercise. That Carpenter is able to pull it off so un-pretentiously is a credit to his first inspiration, as well as to the spirit of the long boiled ingredients of older films. In short, the most cult you can find by the filmmaker without going to his previous effort Dark Star. Grade: A