The Assault (1996)

User Rating:

2.9/10   

Director:

Jim Wynorski

Writers:

Melissa Brasselle (screenplay)
Melissa Brasselle (story)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

When Revenge Is The Only Option

Plot:

A female cop protects a dead drug dealer's wife from mob assassins.

Plot Keywords:

Policewoman Killing | Independent Film

Cast

Stacie Randall	...	Stacy
Matt McCoy	...	Mike
Melissa Brasselle	...	Toni
Sandahl Bergman	...	Helen
Leo Rossi	...	Zigowski
Leslie Ryan	...	Lisa Wilks
Lydie Denier	...	Sammy Jo
Rick Dean	...	Blade
Wanda Acuna	...	Rita
Paige Carter	...	Sherese
Arthur Roberts	...	Fredericks
Carrie Dobro	...	Cindy
Peter Spellos	...	Captain Haymer
José Ignacio Álvarez	...	Chico (as Joseph Ignacio Álvarez)
Víctor Quintero	...	Juan

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

USA:PG-13

Company:

SACIS

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stacy is driving the car and is in a gun battle with bad guys in a red Chevelle during the first 15 - 20 minutes of the movie, the car she is driving alternates between a brown Lincoln Continental Town Car, a black Mercury Marquis, and Ford LTD.

Soundtrack:

Don't Kick Her in the Butt

A clumsy rip-off of Carpenter's major work

"The assault" is just a clumsy rip-off of Carpenter's major work "Assault at Precinct 13". The good action and suspense scenes are xerox copies of the corresponding ones in Carpenter's film. An amount of irrelevant stuff is added at the beginning of the movie.

Anyway, "The assault" could be entertaining. To see tough and (more or less) attractive women shooting down dozens of bad guys is always funny. Needless to say, such a situation contains a remarkable erotic tinge. Personally, I'd have preferred to have no man at all among the defenders of the besieged house. The love story between the female cop and the ex-marine guy is a major weakness of the film. The movie contains a remarkable lot of politically correct feminism. I bet the director Wynorski thought: "I'll get no much credit in making this minor B movie: at least, let's avoid troubles with the feminists".

Flaws and absurdities are spread along the movie. A main one: the Zombi-like way the bad ones attack the house (and are killed). That was justified in Carpenter's film, since there we had a gang of wholly drugged, death-devoted, crazy fanatics. Here we have a mob of professional criminals: I don't see why they should be desirous to be killed so stupidly. The job by the cast is so and so, but could be worse. And the female characters are nice.

After all, if you happen to meet "The assault", you may even avoid to switch your TV off.