Action Movie Reviews: Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Tony Burton, Laurie Zimmer
IMDB: 7.4
RT: 97
Box Office: Not Available

Summary-

Lieutenant Ethan Bishop is assigned to watch over Precinct 13 during its last night before its shut down. During the night a ruthless gang attacks the Precinct with heavy firepower and its up to Bishop, some of the administrators and two inmates to fend them off.




Review (SPOILERS!)-

This film is often heralded as one of the most unappreciated action films of the 1970's and rightfully so. In only his second feature film John Carpenter shows off his gritty and visceral style that would make him one of the most respected Sci-fi/Horror directors of all time.

The film opens with a bunch of gang members getting killed by police. We then get a radio broadcast describing how this gang has tons of dangerous weapons and then we see four of them making a blood pact. These guys seem pretty hardcore immediately as they quietly cut open their arms and pour their blood into a cup. We then see Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker) leaving his home to start his first day of work as a Lieutenant on the police force. As he is driving he is told to report to Precinct 13 which is set to close down soon. He arrives and is told that he just needs to watch over the place over night. The first act draws all of the players to this one central location. Bishop is here to watch the precinct over night. Inmates Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Jonson) and Wells (Tony Burton) are on a prison bus transporting them to another prison but the bus has to stop at this precinct due to a sick inmate. The father of a little girl who is shot by the gang runs to the precinct for safety which is what brings the gang to the building. Now that all of the players have reached the central location all hell is about to break loose.

Don't Shoot the Ice Cream Man!

The gang marks them for destruction then unleashes an assault on the precinct. Most of the police officers are killed except for Bishop and two female administrators. In order to survive this siege they let Napoleon and Wells out of their cells and give them guns. They manage to repel the attack after killing dozens of gang members but one of the female administrators is killed. They are trapped inside the precinct and because the phones and electricity are out they cannot call for help. In the second act we get continued character development as the four people try to figure out what to do. Napoleon is a death row inmate who is a throwback to classic western characters. He is not a truly bad guy, he did something bad but he still has a code of honor. Wells is the guy who is a more typical inmate although he is not a terrible guy either just very unlucky. All four of the characters are very realistic and human which helps the audience to relate to them.  The gang on the other hand is more of a mindless, brutal and inhuman threat. John Carpenter has even said that the film was somewhat inspired by George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead as the gang is silent and unrelenting like the zombies in that film.

The survivors attempt to send someone out to get help but it fails and the 3 remaining people have to prepare for the final assault. They have limited ammunition and have to come up with some way to survive. Then the final assault on precinct 13 begins. This film is very reminiscent of an old school western and the story is often compared to Rio Bravo. While it has a very classic story the tone is very different from the action films of the time. Rather than having a major action star like Clint Eastwood be the lead Carpenter chose to have an African American man in the lead which was still somewhat of a big deal. The film is also fairly violent and the scene with the little girl getting shot is still pretty shocking.

Final Thoughts-

I understand why this has become such a big cult film over the years as I enjoyed the hell out of it. It's Carpenter at his best, delivering a dark and gritty film that gets good performances out of lesser known actors. While its not my favorite Carpenter film (The Thing) it is pretty damn close.

MY RATING-

4 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart