Underplayed Gems

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Assault on Precinct 13 poster
Directed by
John Carpenter
Genre
action film, crime film, thriller film, exploitation film, crime thriller film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 31m
Rated
R
Rating
7.3 of 10 from 1,222 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A police officer and a convict join forces to defend an old police station from a violent gang. The gang attacks without reason, forcing the defenders to fight for their lives.

tenserelentlessgrittysuspensefulbleakclaustrophobicstarkurgent

What happens

Assault on Precinct 13 is a 1976 American independent action-thriller film written, directed, scored, and edited by John Carpenter. It features Austin Stoker as a police officer who defends a defunct precinct against a relentless criminal gang, and Darwin Joston as a death row-bound convict who assists him. Laurie Zimmer, Tony Burton, Martin West, Charles Cyphers, and Nancy Kyes co-star as other defenders of the precinct, as well as victims of the ensuing siege. Carpenter was approached by producer J. Stein Kaplan to make a low-budget exploitation film for under $100,000, on the condition that Carpenter would have total creative control. Carpenter's script, originally titled The Anderson Alamo, was inspired by the Howard Hawks Western film Rio Bravo and the George A. Romero horror film Night of the Living Dead. Controversy with the MPAA over a scene involving the violent killing of a young girl nearly caused the film to receive an X rating. Assault on Precinct 13 opened in the United States on November 5, 1976. It was initially met with mixed reviews and unimpressive box-office returns, but when the film premiered in the 1977 London Film Festival, it received an ecstatic review by festival director Ken Wlaschin that led to critical acclaim first in Britain and then throughout Europe. It has garnered a cult following and reappraisal from critics, with many evaluating the film as one of the best action films of its era and of Carpenter's career. A remake was released in 2005, directed by Jean-François Richet and starring Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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