Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    HORROR SCREAMS VIDEO VAULT – SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT HORROR
    • Home
    • Film Reviews
      • Films Beginning With Numbers or Symbols
      • A – C
      • D – F
      • G – I
      • J – L
      • M – O
      • P – R
      • S – U
      • V – X
      • Y – Z
    • Book Reviews
    • Franchise Corner
    • Competitions
    • Horror Screams Podcast
    • Contact Us
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    HORROR SCREAMS VIDEO VAULT – SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT HORROR

    Film Review: ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976)

    Peter 'Witchfinder' HopkinsBy Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins21st July 2019Updated:21st July 2019No Comments2 Mins Read

    ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 ***** USA 1976 Dir: John Carpenter. 91 mins

    Carpenter’s second feature film is a masterclass in stripped-down, unrelenting tension. Its stylistic confidence, pace and striking widescreen look all belied its low budget, earned a rapturous reception at the London Film Festival (and elsewhere) and led the young filmmaker to two career-securing movies made back to back – one for television (SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME!) and one for cinema (HALLOWEEN).
    Opening with red-on-black titles set to Carpenter’s own, haunting synth / drum machine main theme, it’s a gritty reworking of RIO BRAVO set in the here and now, as confirmed by a location and time / date stamp at the start while the Panavision camera glides around sun kissed yet ominous Los Angeles suburbs. The story is established without any extraneous exposition: a police ambush leads the members of a street gang to hold a nearly abandoned police precinct – due for imminent closure – under siege for one long, violent night. Carpenter pays homage to Howard Hawks, one of his filmmaking heroes, with a snarky loveable rogue (Darwin Joston) and a very Hawksian heroine (Laurie Zimmer) while grounding the action with Austin Stoker’s terrific, charismatic leading man. The director would work with many of the excellent cast (including Joston, Charles Cyphers and Nancy Loomis) in later movies, and the movie sets a sleek, claustrophobic style that would become his trademark. In a decade where American cinema relished the chance to depict authentic crime sprees in the cities and suburbs, Carpenter transformed a street gang into a faceless, silent, omnipresent horde hiding in pools of darkness, not unlike the Romero zombies who revolutionised the modern American horror film almost a decade earlier. It’s taut, witty and terrifying, and also features one of the grimmest, most shocking scenes in 1970’s American cinema: little Kim Richards (also in THE CAR and DEVIL DOG: HOUND OF HELL around the same time) is bloodily gunned down while preparing to enjoy a treat from an Ice Cream van. It was proficiently remade thirty years later with Ethan Hawke and Lawrence Fishburne but, despite that film’s own qualities, it couldn’t hold a candle to this startling sequence or, indeed, the enduring impact of this evergreen thriller.

    Review by Steven West








    FacebookLikeShareTweetPin
    Assault On Precinct 13 John Carpenter Thriller

    Related Posts

    VIPCO & BayView Entertainment release dramatic thriller CURSED BY HAPPINESS

    7th May 202501 Min Read
    Read More

    Film Review: TIME ADDICTS (2023)

    30th January 202503 Mins Read
    Read More

    ‘Mother Father Sister Brother Frank’ the hilariously horrid comedy horror is served up on Digital

    27th January 202502 Mins Read
    Read More

    Poster for Harley Wallen’s newest flick “Fathers” starring Kaiti Wallen, Jerry Hayes, Deon Hunt, and Emilia Linnea

    26th December 202402 Mins Read
    Read More

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Recent Posts
    • Mors Omnia Solvit: the Italian occult film presented and distributed by TetroVideo and DarkVeins Records
    • Evil Awakening: LOST MEDIA RESURFACES – Horror Movie Returns After 25 Years
    • THE LEGACY LIVES ON: ANDREW PIERSON CAST AS WILLIAM SPANNER IN WITCHCRAFT 17
    • “Tonight She Comes” to MoviVue
    • A BAROQUE FILM FEST is officially in motion!
    Archives
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.