[7]

The skeleton crew of an isolated police precinct battle a vengeful street gang that lay siege to the building. John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) writes and directs this simple, straight-forward, solidly executed action/thriller, imbuing it with his love of westerns. Carpenter creates likable characters here, particularly in the stalwart police lieutenant (Austin Stoker) and the wise-cracking prisoner (Darwin Joston), the latter of which is most definitely a forerunner of Snake Pliskin from Carpenter’s later Escape from New York.

Carpenter creates suspense in Assault on Precinct 13 not from any of the action, but through character relationships. Once the lieutenant frees the prisoner so he can help protect the precinct, you have to wonder if the convict will try to escape or turn his guns on the lieutenant. This is where Carpenter taps into Howard Hawks territory (his love of Rio Bravo is well known), layering a seemingly straight-forward, low-budget action yarn with notions of honor and fraternal camaraderie.

Even after all these years, I’m not sure John Carpenter gets the respect he deserves. He’s a master of the Hollywood style, and his sure-handed genius is on full display here, his second movie.