Assault on Precinct 13

I watched Assault on Precinct 13 and it was quite enjoyable. I know that sounds a bit strange considering it is a film that is a standoff film (what I consider, at any rate) but it is really cool. Directed by John Carpenter, in 1976 and stars Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, and Nancy Kyes as part of the main cast. It deals with how a precinct is closing and the crazy night that ensues because of gang violence. That is what it is in a nutshell. There is more to it than that though because it is a study in characters, who are heroes and who are villains and how lines blur in certain heated situations. Knowing that Carpenter has an adoration of Howard Hawks (Thing from Another World, Rio Bravo) and there are elements that I noticed that mirrored Rio Bravo, especially the violent standoff aspect to the main plot (though in Rio Bravo the circumstances were slightly different). That is what surprised me most about this film as it was very violent. Lots of gunfire. I must admit that added to the tension that was built up through the entire film as whole, which made it all the more intense as the film goes through the action and drama.

This was Carpenter’s second film (from the research I have seen and read) and though it is low budget that is what gives its charm and grit. The score is a synthesizer score with a repeating set of chords that frame the entire film. The set piece of the precinct and being trapped is almost claustrophobic and really works on the viewer.

I know there was a remake in 2005 and I haven’t seen it so I cannot comment on the differences in tone or any of that. I stand by this version as being definitive if only because, it may be inspired by Rio Bravo (and Night of the Living Dead), it stands alone as an achievement in action –drama that really tests the audience as to how they would or wouldn’t react in this situation, as extreme as it is (though I contend that in this modern age, that is a normalcy compared to when this was released in 1976).