Assault on Precinct 13

Starring: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West, Tony Burton, Charles Cyphers
Directed by: John Carpenter
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
1976

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A few inhabitants of an abandoned police station face overwhelming odds as a deadly gang lays siege to the station, intent on killing everyone inside.

Review:

Tim: John Carpenter's 1976 action thriller has had an interesting journey. The film pays homage to both Western and horror films, and those influences are very obvious if you're paying attention. When the film was released in the United States, it was not a hit- critics disliked it. Audiences and critics in Europe loved it, however. Years later, American critics reevaluated it, and it's genuinely regarded as one of the classic action movies of the 1970s. I find that strange- how a film could be panned first, then regarded as a classic. I think this is certainly a good movie, but I can't claim to have loved it.

The most impressive feat Carpenter pulled off was making this movie for about $100,000. How is that even possible? It looks like the budget was significantly higher. The fact that he was able to do this on a shoestring budget is perhaps the film's biggest surprise. I give Carpenter and everyone involved loads of credit for that. Now, that being said, this movie just needed a bigger budget. Carpenter could get as creative as possible, but ultimately, the movie needed a bit more money invested in it. That would have given it more of a sense that this wasn't a throwaway B movie.

The premise of the film is borrowed heavily from Rio Bravo (my favorite Western) with some elements of Night of the Living Dead thrown in. It would seem like these two influences wouldn't mix, but they do. We have a small band of survivors fighting overwhelming odds. Their opponents, a deadly Los Angeles gang take on elements you usually associate with zombies- they don't talk, they have no fear of death, and they just keep coming. That is what elevates this movie- it feels very unique in the context of action thrillers. That was great fun to watch on screen.

The cast is made up of unknowns and they act like it. Austin Stoker gives perhaps the best performance of the film, but it feels like we get less and less time with him as the movie progresses. I wish he had more to do. Darwin Joston has some absolutely incredible moments as Napoleon Wilson (cool name), but he has other moments where his inexperience shows through. I just didn't think he was consistently charming or engaging. Some moments he was great, others came across as too wooden. I thought Laurie Zimmer was terrible. It looked like she was either high or sleepwalking through the role. You could call her stoic and strong, but it just felt like she was constantly thinking about something else. It was just a bizarre, ineffective performance. I've heard the cast raved about by some critics, but I'd probably give them a B-.

I do have to mention the infamous ice cream truck scene. It was beyond shocking in the 1970s and they threatened to give the movie an X rating if it wasn't cut. Carpenter told them he cut it and then distributed it with the scene in there. It's a shocking, memorable scene. As hard as it is to watch, it sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Carpenter was right to keep it in there. It's gruesome, but essential to the film.

The movie is fairly engaging and exciting. It is pretty creepy to see the silent gang stalking around outside of the abandoned police station. My interest was certainly held for the entire film. Now, while it was very good, I still have a few complaints. One, the film tried so hard to convince us of why the police weren't responding to all the gunfire. A surprisingly large chunk of the film is dedicated to explaining how this is possible, and it still seems farfetched. I laughed during the scene where the two cops just nonchalantly decide to skip the street with the station, even though they are angry they can't find the source of the gunfire. Two, the actions of the gang didn't always make sense. They kill a number of people, then stalk around outside. Then, they make a crazy effort where dozens and dozens of them are killed. Then, they just stop for a while, before finally making a last ditch effort to overtake the station. It didn't make a lot of sense- I felt like they'd really keep up a more constant assault. They had to know that with every passing second, the chance of other police arriving increased. Their long delays in attacking felt like a convenient opportunity for us to spend more time with the characters inside the police station. The writing could certainly have been better.

So, while the film is flawed, I acknowledge it's influential and does a great deal right. It's miraculous when you consider what Carpenter was able to achieve with so little money. Still, Assault on Precinct 13 is a movie I'd consider good, but not quite the classic everyone makes it out to be. It's certainly worth seeing, but it's not exactly a great film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), Halloween, The Thing