John Carpenter's second feature "Assault on Precinct 13" is nothing short of a masterpiece of original flmmaking. Back in the mid seventies, when cinema verite and political thrillers where the norm, John Carpenter came up with a fresh and back to basics flmmaking approach that was simply entertaining and truly original. "Assault on Precinct 13" is Carpenter at his finest, as the film introduces the audience to what would later become the trademarks of his style: Masterful Panavision compositions, tight suspense sequences and a thumping synth score that is simply minimilastic brilliance. With a simple plot that serves as a launching ground for character interactions and suspense set-pieces that showcase Carpenter's stylish direction, this is Carpenter at his most creative, back when he made interesting, original and always entertaining films before his downfall in the 90's, when self-indulgence led to such works as "Village of the damned" and "Ghosts of Mars". *The Image region 1 dvd features a nice widescreen print, but sadly only a mono soundtrack, which serves the film fine, but with a score of that quality, a 5.1 remix is truly called for. The disc also features an astounding and inspiring commentary by Carpenter. Brilliant.*

Before there was Halloween, there was Assault on Precinct 13, John Carpenter's second movie and arguably his first masterpiece. Fans of his later work should be warned though, there's no traditional horror or supernatural elements here, just one of history's all-time great low-budget action movies. By now the plot should be familiar to just about anyone reading this review: a lone cop and a couple of lifers have to defend a virtually abandoned police station against a street gang's onslaught. However, it's what Carpenter does with this concept that makes Assault on Precinct 13 such an exciting and memorable watch. It's a brilliantly executed pressure-cooker of a movie, thrusting a few decidedly disparate people into an unimaginably dire situation and letting us watch them as they try to figure out what to do about it. Although Carpenter has made much of the influence of classic westerns on this movie (Rio Bravo in particular), there are also ample doses of the eerie minimalism and stark brutality that Carpenter brought to Halloween, along with the tense, claustrophobic atmosphere that characterized much of Night of the Living Dead. Released in 1976 against the backdrop of escalating violence and decay in America's cities, the movie plays perfectly into fears of urban crime, as a small band of heroes are literally confronted with an onslaught from a small army of gang members. At bottom, though, Assault on Precinct 13 is a story of courage and heroism under the worst of circumstances, and it accomplishes this difficult task without being the slightest bit preachy, which may be even more impressive.

The movie certainly begins in a harrowing enough fashion, as the opening sequence shows six members of a gang known as Street Thunder being cut down by police gunfire in a darkened alley, followed by their gang's (oddly multiracial) leadership swearing a highly unpleasant blood oath vowing revenge for the deaths of their colleagues. From there the movie slows to a snail's pace for a while, establishing the important plot points and characters and steadily building suspense as the members of Street Thunder cruise the streets of the ghetto looking for a suitable target. However, this relative quiet is shattered in a most dramatic fashion in the now-infamous incident in which a little girl meets her unfortunate end at the hands of a machine-like gang leader (played in extremely menacing fashion by Frank Doubleday) while her father chats on a pay phone a few yards away. Carpenter admits in the DVD's commentary track that this scene would virtually guarantee an NC-17 rating today, and it's hard to disagree: it's almost unspeakably horrific, both in its unflinching violence and in the utter anguish that ensues when Dad sees the gang's handiwork. Things don't get much better when the girl's father exacts some revenge of his own on the shooter, as he winds up getting more than he bargained for and kicking the plot into high gear in the process when the rest of the gang pursues him into a nearly abandoned police station.

This admittedly obvious plot device doesn't just get the action of the movie in motion, it establishes an important pattern: long periods of exposition punctuated by explosions of hard-hitting visceral action. Made for about $100,000 (a tiny amount even 30 years ago), Assault on Precinct 13 is hardly a big-budget Hollywood extravaganza in the vein of Die Hard or Total Recall, but its cheap and simplistic feel actually winds up working in its favor. With virtually no money for special effects or big-name stars, Assault on Precinct 13 succeeds due largely to its emphasis on mood, economical dialogue, and characterization. Much like the aforementioned Night of the Living Dead, this movie examines the dynamics that unfold when a group of strangers are thrown together and forced to confront a mass of nameless, faceless enemies lurking right outside. More so than in Night of the Living Dead, though, here we really get an idea of the characters as people, particularly the three principals: Austin Stoker's amiable (and classically Afroed) black cop Ethan Bishop; Lynn Zimmer's determined secretary Leigh; and of course Darwin Joston's iconic convict Napoleon Wilson. From his icy stare to his sardonic wit to his considerable azz-kicking skills (check out that textbook arm break on the thug in the holding cell), Wilson is right up there with Eddie Murphy's Reggie Hammond from 48 Hrs. in the pantheon of film's most memorable antiheroes-turned-heroes.

Still, for all its character and plot development, Assault on Precinct 13 is at its best when it's in full-bore action mode. The violence is actually somewhat sporadic and generally not particularly graphic, but when it gets going it really gets going. The movie's most thrilling sequence undoubtedly occurs when the members of Street Thunder stage a full-scale assault on the police station and its inhabitants greet them with guns blazing. Watching Bishop, Wilson, and even Leigh dispense justice in the form of hot lead is itself more than worth any rental fee you might pay. It's actually somewhat reminiscent of the legendary climactic church standoff in John Woo's The Killer, which is of course a good thing 'cause that movie rules.

Fittingly, Image Entertainment has decked out this new special edition DVD with loads of extras, most notably a full-length commentary track from Carpenter and an interview with Carpenter and Stoker (though mostly Carpenter, which is too bad because Stoker's a funny guy) filmed a few years ago at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The commentary and interview are full of insights from Carpenter, from descriptions of the film's technical aspects to the art of low-budget filmmaking to discussion of the film's influences and the aftermath of its release. There's also a brief, but extremely hilarious, revelation by Carpenter of how he managed to avoid getting Assault slapped with an X rating. Great stuff, just like this movie. You'd have to be nuts to avoid picking up the DVD, especially given its low price.

Two years before John Carpenter made a name for himself with the original Halloween, he put together this low budget classic in which desperate cops and prisoners must band together to withstand a siege. The original Assault on Precinct 13 mixed elements of Rio Bravo and Night of the Living Dead as a rather large gang wages a street war on a soon to be closed police station. Weaving an engaging character study with some incredibly intense action sequences, Assault on Precinct 13 still manages to pull out all the shocks today that it did in 1976, including the infamous ice cream truck scene which helps set the stage for police station siege. Forget about the recent watered down Hollywood remake; the original Assault on Precinct 13 remains one of the best low budget action films ever made, and one of the best films to come from the mind of visionary John Carpenter. This Special Edition DVD contains a solid (but old, as in from the Laserdisc edition) commentary by Carpenter, plus a few other goodies for long time fans of the film.

John Carpenter's claim to fame rests largely on his contributions to the horror film genre. He's responsible for the hugely influential 1970s slasher flick "Halloween," of course, but he's also made several other noteworthy horror movies. His remake of "The Thing" still impresses over twenty years later thanks to a great cast, incredible special effects, and scads of claustrophobic atmosphere. "The Fog," starring Adrienne Barbeau, is Carpenter's attempt at a good old-fashioned ghost story. I could go on and on, mentioning the killer car film "Christine," the satanic "The Prince of Darkness," and the Lovecraftian horror of "In the Mouth of Madness." Fortunately, Carpenter occasionally made films in other genres, such as the science fiction classics "Dark Star," "Escape From New York," "Starman," and the hilarious "They Live" starring none other than one time pro wrestler Roddy Piper. In his prime Carpenter had the Midas touch, especially when it came to a very low budget action film called "Assault on Precinct 13." A new version of the film will soon appear in the theaters, perhaps it already has, but it's already quite obvious it will never approach the intensity of the original. How could it? Carpenter pulls a few nasty tricks in this movie that no studio would ever touch today.

"Assault on Precinct 13" stars Austin Stoker as Lieutenant Ethan Bishop, heading out for the first day of his new promotion. Headquarters assigns him to drive over to Precinct 13, a station house located in the worst part of town, in order to help the remaining personnel there shut the place down. Meanwhile, a prisoner transfer is taking place somewhere else in the state, a transfer involving Wells (Tony Burton) and a dangerous felon named Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston) headed to death row. Yet another incident unfolds simultaneously with the other two, as a father and his young daughter Kathy (Kim Richards) drive into the slums on personal business. Sadly, these two are completely unaware that several gang members involved in a weapons' heist perished in a confrontation with the police hours before. The gang declares a revenge war on the police and the city for the killings, with the prime targets being anyone unlucky enough to run into these guys on the streets. Of course, no one knows anything about this yet until the gang commits a particularly heinous crime that finds Kathy's father stumbling into the nearly closed station house. Gang members show up to terrorize the occupants of the building and reclaim the father.

At roughly the same time Napoleon Wilson, Wells, and the rest of the prison transfer crew show up at Precinct 13 seeking a doctor for a sick inmate. Only Napoleon and Wells survive long enough to make it inside thanks to the gang members, who lay down a withering fire using the arms captured in the heist. The rest of the film from this point forward moves with lightening speed as Bishop, beautiful secretary Leigh (Laurie Zimmer), Wells, Wilson, and a few others must overcome the mutual distrust that exists between criminals and the police if they are to survive. One thing is for certain: the gang members laying siege to the station couldn't care less who is inside the building. They will kill anyone in an effort to get at Kathy's father. With no phones and no way to move around outside the building, Bishop and his cohorts must rely on a few weapons and even fewer rounds of ammunition to stay alive. Any attempt to escape from the station house spells disaster for those who try it, and it isn't too long before the survivors crouch in the basement awaiting the final bloody assault. Will the police discover the occupants of Precinct 13 before the gang members overwhelm them? Who will live and who will perish? What will happen to Napoleon Wilson after the heroics he displays fighting off the gang members? Watch and see.

There isn't much to dislike about Carpenter's action classic. Sure, the acting is a bit wooden, especially in Darwin Joston's portrayal of the laconic Napoleon Wilson. Too, I found the whole "potato" game a bit ridiculous. But aside from those niggling problems, "Assault on Precinct 13" is an assault on the viewers' senses. Lots of shoot 'em action helps propel the narrative in the station house, but the stuff going on in the outside world is just as interesting. If you've seen the film, you know what I'm referring to as "outside stuff," namely the reason Kathy's father arrives at Precinct 13 in a state resembling a nervous breakdown. I won't spoil this shocking scene for you, but it's the sort of sequence that makes the difference between a film and a cult classic. Nothing we see up to that point prepares us for what happens, and it's the sort of thing that never loses its power to shock. I've seen this movie a dozen times and I STILL sit in utter amazement when that part of the film arrives. You can bet your bottom dollar the remake won't attempt to recreate this scene. I've recommended "Assault on Precinct 13" to friends based on this horrific scene alone.

The Special Edition disc comes loaded with extras. The commentary track with John Carpenter is fairly low key but essential to listen to for his explanation of the aforementioned shocking scene as well as learning about the nuts and bolts of low budget filmmaking. Also included is a videotaped interview with Carpenter and Stoker filmed at one of those horror/science fiction conventions, a trailer, a still gallery, and radio spots. I recommend skipping the latest incarnation of "Assault" and going with this one instead.

In-between his debut with the ultra low budget 1974 cult classic DARK STAR and his breakthrough success in 1978 with HALLOWEEN, John Carpenter, a member of the 1960s film school generation that also gave us Lucas, Spielberg, and Scorsese, achieved a minor miracle by making a taut action/suspense thriller on a budget that wouldn't even cover the catering bill on most big budget Hollywood flicks today. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 is that film, and it is solid proof of what a mere $100,000 could buy in 1976 with the right story and the right people.

In essence an urbanized variation on director Howard Hawks' 1959 western classic RIO BRAVO, ASSAULT stars Austin Stoker as a newly-promoted L.A.P.D. lieutenant whose first assignment is to oversee the closing down of an aging police precinct building in south Los Angeles on a hot summer night. At first, Stoker thinks this is nothing more than a routine matter. But after a young girl (Kim Richards) is killed alongside an ice cream truck by gang members, and her father (Martin West) seeks refuge after killing one of the thugs, Stoker and his skeleton crew, which includes prisoners being transferred from one jail to another, find their building under siege from dozens of multi-ethnic gang members who are willing to kill with extreme prejudice. Stoker and the remaining staff of the precinct must align with the prisoners (including Tony Burton and Darwin Joston) to hold the building and eliminate the gang bangers.

The result, despite some melodramatic dialogue and cliches, is a very provocative crime thriller from an era in which most such films gave audiences credit for having brains. Much has been made about the similarities between this film and RIO BRAVO, as well as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and they still hold up quite well even now. But equally important, the film's story of people under violent siege also resembles the climaxes of both Hitchcock's THE BIRDS and Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS. Through his own editing (as John T. Chance, the name of the John Wayne character in RIO BRAVO) and music score, Carpenter ups the ante in terms of suspense, and the scene of Richards being killed at the ice cream truck is violent and disturbing without being a gratuitous case of blood and gore. Stoker, a veteran character actor in numerous 1970s action films, does a good turn as the head cop.

Filmed primarily on location in south Los Angeles, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 is a textbook example of how tension, suspense, and highly-charged action can be made coherently on a shoestring. It is a very fine cult film that time has been very kind to.