Thriller

Action

Crime

Assault on Precinct 13

Overseas FilmGroup

The CKK Corporation

United States of America

English

Austin Stoker

Darwin Joston

Laurie Zimmer

Martin West

Tony Burton

Charles Cyphers

Nancy Kyes

Peter Bruni

John J. Fox

Marc Ross

Alan Koss

Henry Brandon

Kim Richards

Frank Doubleday

Gilbert De la Pena

Peter Frankland

Al Nakauchi

Gilman Rankin

Cliff Battuello

Horace Johnson

Valentine Villareal

Kenny Miyamoto

Jerry Viramontes

Len Whitaker

Kris Young

Randy Moore

Warren Bradley III

Joe Woo Jr.

Bill Taylor

Brent Keast

Maynard Smith

James Jeter

John Carpenter

James Johnson

Jackson Mundie

J. Stein Kaplan

Douglas Knapp

James Nichols

Joseph Kaufmann

Tommy Lee Wallace

Don Bledsoe

Debra Hill

William Waldman

Douglas Olivares

Jack English

William Mareneck

Michael Everett

Kurt Young

Trippy Gafford

William Cooper

Alan Cassidy

Richard Albain Jr.

Rena Small

Maxine Syrjamaki

Steve Fine

Louise Kyes

Craig Stearns

Curt Schulkey

Marla Miller

Blake Schaefer

Jocelyne Stoikovitch

Tom Hansen

John Syrjamaki

Bill Varney

Richard Girod

John Roy Rogers

Rueben Joe Melendez

Awesome film one of my all time favorite movies Plus (Great soundtrack)

There are no heroes anymore, Bishop. Just men who follow orders.

Assault on Precinct 13 is written, directed, edited and musically scored by John Carpenter. It stars Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West, Tony Burton, Charles Cyphers and Nancy Kyes. Cinematography is by Douglas Knapp.

If you are going to homage films that you love, or ones that influence you, then you have to get it right. Something John Carpenter most assuredly did with this, his first masterpiece. Plot and structure of film are simplicity extreme, but it's the execution that matters here, the cool veneer of the hero characters, the frightening relentlessness of the gang members who assault the soon to close down police station and the small number of inhabitants within. Interestingly it's actually Precinct 9, Division 13, but Carpenter was no doubt in a playful mood.

Carpenter builds the first half slowly, introducing key characters whilst deftly staging the events that will lead to the actual siege itself. This part of Los Angeles where the story is set is conspicuous by how empty and soulless it seems, even in daylight, which is where the terror actually begins. It's as if residents and locals just prefer to be off the streets at any time of day or night. 

The gang, like the folk inside the station, are multiracial, but unlike those inside the gang never speak. They move like silent assassins, no shouting or cussing, just a tidal wave of death, their guns adorned with silencers, which leads to a truly brilliant extended sequence as the gang begin to destroy the building silently! Meanwhile relationships are being formed by those under duress, convicts and police forced to battle side by side in the slightest hope of surviving the night.

There is no flab on show here, no pointless dialogue or scenes which could have been cut, it's a film that is very much to the point. The cast respond well to Carpenter's requirements, be it emotionally, physically or coolly, all while Carpenter's low tone synthesiser plays out its memorably eerie beats. It's a superb lesson in low budget film making from one of the masters of that art. His filmic star may have waned in his later life, but for a time in the 70s and 80s he shone bright, Assault On Precinct 13 was the ignition. 10/10

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Assault on Precinct 13

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Austin Stoker

Darwin Joston

Laurie Zimmer

Martin West

Tony Burton

Charles Cyphers

Nancy Kyes

Peter Bruni

John J. Fox

Marc Ross

Box office

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