Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writer:

John Carpenter (written by)

Release Date:

5 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

L.A.'s deadliest street gang just declared war on the cops.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Police | Police Station | Street Gang | Prisoner

Cast

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)
Peter Frankland	...	Caudell
Al Nakauchi	...	Oriental Warlord
James Johnson	...	Black Warlord
Gilman Rankin	...	Bus Driver
Cliff Battuello	...	First Guard
Horace Johnson	...	Second Guard
Valentine Villareal	...	Chicano Tough
Kenny Miyamoto	...	Oriental Tough
Jerry Viramontes	...	Chicano Hood
Len Whitaker	...	Black Hood
Kris Young	...	Gang Member
Randy Moore	...	Gang Member
Warren Bradley III	...	Gang Member
Joe Woo Jr.	...	Gang Member
Bill Taylor	...	Gang Member (as William Taylor)
Brent Keast	...	Radio Announcer (voice)
Maynard Smith	...	Police Commissioner (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Carpenter	...	Gang Member (uncredited)
James Jeter	...	Precinct Captain (uncredited)

Directed by
John Carpenter

Writing credits
John Carpenter		(written by)

Produced by
Steve Fine	....	assistant producer
J. Stein Kaplan	....	producer (as J.S. Kaplan)
Joseph Kaufman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Carpenter

Cinematography by
Douglas Knapp		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Carpenter		(as John T. Chance)

Art Direction by
Tommy Lee Wallace		(as Tommy Wallace)

Makeup Department
Don Bledsoe	....	makeup artist

Production Management
James Nichols	....	post-production supervisor
John Syrjamaki	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Nichols	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dick Girod	....	set painter (as Richard Girod)
Craig Stearns	....	property master

Sound Department
Alan Cassidy	....	boom operator
William Cooper	....	sound recordist
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recordist
Tommy Lee Wallace	....	sound effects (as Tommy Wallace)

Special Effects by
Richard Albain	....	special effects (as Richard Albain Jr.)
Ken Speed	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Stunts
Rueben Joe Melendez	....	stunt driver
John Roy Rogers	....	stunt driver

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack English	....	gaffer
Michael Everett	....	best boy
Trippy Gafford	....	grip
William E. Mareneck	....	best boy (as William Mareneck)
Douglas Olivares	....	assistant camera
Rena Small	....	still photographer
William Waldman	....	assistant camera
Kurt Young	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Nancy Kyes	....	wardrobe mistress (as Louise Kyes)

Editorial Department
Debra Hill	....	assistant editor
Curt Schulkey	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Peter Bergren	....	music engineer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Trippy Gafford	....	driver

Other crew
Tom Hansen	....	production assistant
Debra Hill	....	script supervisor
Marla Miller	....	production assistant
Randy Moore	....	production assistant
Blake Schaefer	....	production assistant
Jocelyne Stoikovitch	....	production assistant
Maxine Syrjamaki	....	payroll

Production Companies

• CKK Corporation, The (presents) (as The C K K Corporation)
• Overseas FilmGroup

Distributors

• Turtle Releasing (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1977) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Marceau-Cocinor (1978) (France) (theatrical)
• Filmwelt (1979) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Media Home Entertainment (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• América Vídeo (1982) (Brazil) (VHS) (as "Trovão das Ruas")
• Arcade Video (1982) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Media Home Entertainment (1982) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Opção (1982) (Brazil) (VHS) (as "Assalto à 13ª DP")
• Video Sales Network (1982) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Media Home Entertainment (1983) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Image Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• New Line Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Jef Films International (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Astro Distribution (2000) (Germany) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2003) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• EMS (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Veronica (2007) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Stormovie (2008) (Italy) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Beam Entertainment (????) (Japan) (DVD) (DVD producer)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD) (as "Assalto à 13ª DP")
• Creative Axa Co. Ltd. (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• Future Film (2001) (Finland) (DVD) (cropped to 1.78:1)
• Hollydan Works (2004) (Yugoslavia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Get Set  set construction
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  titles and opticals (as MGM)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:16 | UK:15 (re-rating) (2008) | France:12 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Canada:18A (Manitoba) (re-rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) (original rating) | Finland:K-18 | France:16 (cut) (original rating) | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2005) | Norway:18 | South Korea:15 (cut) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:18 (original rating) (1976) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

CKK Corporation, The

Trivia:

Darwin Joston was John Carpenter's next-door neighbor at the time of filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: Kathy is casually shot by a gang member when she wants to get the ice cream cone she ordered. She is shot holding the ice cream cone. When her father goes up to her when she's dead on the ground, the ice cream cone is nowhere near her.

Quotes:

Napoleon Wilson:I believe in one man.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Sledge Hammer!: State of Sledge (#1.14)" (1987)

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.