Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) Review

Watching Assault on Precinct 13 for the first time, I remember I saw ritualistic bloodletting by a multiracial revolutionary street gang and I thought to myself, "This is what John Carpenter is all about. He just doesn't give a fuck!" The sheer audacity of his scenes make you believe in his movies. He forces you to. Assault on Precinct 13 was a perfect choice for Carpenter to direct as his second feature film. His first, Dark Star, was based on a college collaboration between Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon which got some attention from a Hollywood producer.

You might remember Dan O'Bannon as the writer of Alien. That same script also inspired the story "B-17" from the animated feature Heavy Metal. Want more nerd credentials??? Dan O'Bannon also wrote and directed Return of the Living Dead. Carpenter and O'Bannon steam rolled the attention they got for their college-produced sci-fi short into a feature film deal and busted out Dark Star. Assault on Precinct 13 was the first film Carpenter had a chance to give birth to that was destined from the get-go for play in theaters. It wasn't until Carpenter followed up Precinct 13 with Halloween that his career really took off, though. I'm sure there are some OG fans of Carpenter's out there who remember watching Precinct 13 when it first came out, but I wasn't even conceived at that point. I came into this movie already knowing Carpenter's style and loving it.

It was awesome having a chance to see the birth of his film technique. I think video game developers, in the early days, must have been largely influenced by Carpenter's films. All the essential elements are there: average, working-class-kind-of guy falls backwards into a crazy adventure and he's forced to increase his skills in order to overcome the countless enemies and obstacles he is pitted against. Assault on Precinct 13 has an epic level of goons on camera. The story consists, essentially, of a shit-crazy street gang assaulting a semi-abandoned police precinct building. The few people on duty, and the few lunatics locked in the cells, are forced to go to war with endless throngs of street punks (who seem perfectly willing to throw their bodies in front of bullets). I couldn't help but fondly reminisce about such classic NES games as Renegade, and River City Ransom. Assault on Precinct 13 is a must see for AM-ers.

- Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) @ Wikipedia
- Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) DVD @ Amazon.com