Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

The lone inhabitants of an abandoned police station are under attack by the overwhelming numbers of a seemingly unstoppable street gang.

Director:

John Carpenter

Writer:

John Carpenter

Stars:

Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Austin Stoker	...	Ethan Bishop
Darwin Joston	...	Napoleon Wilson
Laurie Zimmer	...	Leigh
Martin West	...	Lawson
Tony Burton	...	Wells
Charles Cyphers	...	Starker
Nancy Kyes	...	Julie (as Nancy Loomis)
Peter Bruni	...	Ice Cream Man
John J. Fox	...	Warden
Marc Ross	...	Patrolman Tramer
Alan Koss	...	Patrolman Baxter
Henry Brandon	...	Chaney
Kim Richards	...	Kathy
Frank Doubleday	...	White Warlord
Gilbert De la Pena	...	Chicano Warlord (as Gilbert De La Pena)

Storyline

Police ambush and kill several gang members in Los Angeles. Gang members make a pact of blood to strike back at police, and conduct a siege on the police station which is almost abandoned and due to be closed. Staff of the closing precinct and the criminals being held there while in transit must work together to fight off the attacking gang members.

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Plot Keywords:

gang | police | police station | street gang | prisoner | 

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Taglines:

The gang swore a blood oath to destroy Precinct 13... and every cop in it!

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

JohnCarpenter - movie site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Anderson Alamo

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

CKK Corporation, The, Overseas FilmGroup

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The precinct's new address, 1977 Ellendale Place (written on a sign erected in front of the building), was director John Carpenter's real address when he first lived in Los Angeles.

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Goofs

While Kathy and her dad are trying to find their way to the nanny, Kathy spots a police car and suggests they ask the police for help. Looking out through the front window of the car, we see a deserted roadside with only the police car. Looking out the rear window a moment later, we see the police car in a row of other cars.

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Quotes

Lt. Ethan Bishop: [looking at the maintenence hole, before Wells goes out] Looks pretty good to me.
Wilson: Looks like hell. It's all we got.

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Connections

Referenced in RoboCop: Prime Directives (2000)

User Reviews

Basic but very effective and fun

When a man and his daughter drive down the wrong street they get into the middle of a gang shooting. The little girl is killed and the father left distraught, but armed with another victim's gun. He catches up with the gang and kills the leader before seeking refuge in a local police station. However the station is only manned by a few staff as it is in the process of being shut down. A prison wagon also arrives at the station with sick prisoners for temporary holding – however it is then that the street gang launch their attack with stolen and silenced automatic weapons.

I had half watched this film several years ago and didn't review it then because I knew I had been distracted and not able to give it enough attention to be able to form a fair opinion of it – however I didn't really enjoy it then. Giving it another chance produced a much more enjoyable film, even if it seems very basic on the face of it. The plot seems very simple and, in fairness, it is – gang outside, people inside, people try to keep gang out and stay alive. This is doing it a disservice of course because it creates an enjoyable tension from this simple set-up and delivers some enjoyable (if basic) action and thrills. The direction is good; my personal favourite shot being the shot near the end where the smoke clears! This effective delivery is also aided by Carpenter's own score that is nicely pulsating and still sounds great even if it is dated – the important thing is that it still fits the film and therefore works.

The dialogue is trashy but this fits the slight b-movie feel the film has. The characters are also quite simple (very basic backgrounds and personalities for each) but again this seems to work really well. The strength of having a mostly unknown cast is that you can't be sure who will live or die by the end of the film. Despite being mostly unknowns (to me anyway) the performances are generally very enjoyable even if no Oscars are being given out. Stoker and Joston lead the film really well and give good, natural performances with an overflow of charisma. I don't know the other's outside of these two but the rest were good as well, even if the film belongs to Bishop and Wilson. I was a bit let down by the lack of a central bad guy but in one regard the film also uses this well by making the gang an unseen threat that could be an isolated group or an army.

Overall this is a very basic film in several regards, but it is also a very effective and enjoyable one. If you are looking for film references then there are some to be had but for most of us the film's charismatic leads, action and effective tension will be what we stay for – and luckily it has all those with some to spare.