Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

John Carpenter

Writer:

John Carpenter (written by)

Release Date:

5 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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:

Gang | Police | Street Gang | Police Station | Prisoner

Cast

Austin Stoker	...	Bishop
Darwin Joston	...	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:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:16 | 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:

Darwin Joston's portrayal of convict Napoleon Wilson is inspired by Charles Bronson's character "Harmonica" in C'era una volta il West (1968); when asked to explain themselves and their actions, both respond "Only at the point of dyin'.."

Goofs:

Continuity: In two police radio conversations the dispatcher refers to the unit he is talking to by one call sign; they reply identifying themselves by an entirely different call sign.

Quotes:

Wells: Look, they've moved the cars.
Bishop: I can't belive it. They parked them where they were before.
Wells: Why'd they do that?
Wilson: From a distance, the street looks normal. Like nothing happened.
Bishop: Like nothing happened? They gunned down five police officers! A secretary, one prisoner, we kill a dozen of them, and that's nothing happened?
Bishop: Well, where are the bodies?
[Bishop looks down at the ground and notices nothing there]
Bishop: They took them away!
Wells: How'd they do it so fast?
Wilson: Maybe they got the good fairy to help them.
[...]

Movie Connections:

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

Basic but very effective and fun

When a man and his daughter drive down the wrong street they get into the middle of a gang shooting. The little girl is killed and the father left distraught, but armed with another victim's gun. He catches up with the gang and kills the leader before seeking refuge in a local police station. However the station is only manned by a few staff as it is in the process of being shut down. A prison wagon also arrives at the station with sick prisoners for temporary holding – however it is then that the street gang launch their attack with stolen and silenced automatic weapons.

I had half watched this film several years ago and didn't review it then because I knew I had been distracted and not able to give it enough attention to be able to form a fair opinion of it – however I didn't really enjoy it then. Giving it another chance produced a much more enjoyable film, even if it seems very basic on the face of it. The plot seems very simple and, in fairness, it is – gang outside, people inside, people try to keep gang out and stay alive. This is doing it a disservice of course because it creates an enjoyable tension from this simple set-up and delivers some enjoyable (if basic) action and thrills. The direction is good; my personal favourite shot being the shot near the end where the smoke clears! This effective delivery is also aided by Carpenter's own score that is nicely pulsating and still sounds great even if it is dated – the important thing is that it still fits the film and therefore works.

The dialogue is trashy but this fits the slight b-movie feel the film has. The characters are also quite simple (very basic backgrounds and personalities for each) but again this seems to work really well. The strength of having a mostly unknown cast is that you can't be sure who will live or die by the end of the film. Despite being mostly unknowns (to me anyway) the performances are generally very enjoyable even if no Oscars are being given out. Stoker and Joston lead the film really well and give good, natural performances with an overflow of charisma. I don't know the other's outside of these two but the rest were good as well, even if the film belongs to Bishop and Wilson. I was a bit let down by the lack of a central bad guy but in one regard the film also uses this well by making the gang an unseen threat that could be an isolated group or an army.

Overall this is a very basic film in several regards, but it is also a very effective and enjoyable one. If you are looking for film references then there are some to be had but for most of us the film's charismatic leads, action and effective tension will be what we stay for – and luckily it has all those with some to spare.