Assault on Precinct 13
United States • 1976
Director
Synopsis
John Carpenter’s lean, mean second feature puts a gritty exploitation spin on Howard Hawks’s classic western RIO BRAVO, transposing the story to a soon-to-be-closed LA police station where a group of officers and convicts find themselves under siege by a marauding streets gang who have taken a blood oath to kill someone trapped inside. The baddies are portrayed as zombielike killing-machines straight out of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD; the notorious ice-cream truck scene is still a shocker; and Carpenter keeps the tension mounting with his pulse-pounding synth score.
Synopsis
John Carpenter’s lean, mean second feature puts a gritty exploitation spin on Howard Hawks’s classic western RIO BRAVO, transposing the story to a soon-to-be-closed LA police station where a group of officers and convicts find themselves under siege by a marauding streets gang who have taken a blood oath to kill someone trapped inside. The baddies are portrayed as zombielike killing-machines straight out of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD; the notorious ice-cream truck scene is still a shocker; and Carpenter keeps the tension mounting with his pulse-pounding synth score.
Credits
Crew
DirectorJohn Carpenter
WriterJohn Carpenter
CinematographerDouglas Knapp
ComposerJohn Carpenter
EditorJohn Carpenter
ProducerJ. Stein Kaplan
Cast
Austin Stokeras Ethan Bishop
Darwin Jostonas Napoleon Wilson
Laurie Zimmeras Leigh
Martin Westas Lawson