(1976)
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(1976) |
A group of people are trapped in a nearly abandoned police precinct by crazed gangmembers attempting to take revenge for the death of one of their own.
Also known as: John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13"
Subgenres: action, revenge
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston
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Punishing and unforgiving, Carpenter's Assault doesn't pull any punches. Although this film is an updating of Rio Bravo, it has the look and feel of a George Romero film--I'm thinking The Crazies, here--the dark colors, faceless enemies, social undertones. However, Assault is all Carpenter's movie . . . it has a slickness to its style that isn't Romerian (?) at all. The tone for much of the film is utterly serious, though moments of humor shine through, and the characters and acting is realistic. (I also appreciate the presence of a strong, believable woman cop.) My only beef with Assault is that it's really too damn short--there's plenty of atmospheric (and brutal, and scary) buildup to the remarkable siege, but I couldn't drum up much compassion about the characters because I don't know much about them. (Nov 12, 1999) philjohn.com - approaching the unexplained 
Carpenter movies are amongst the most effective and direct of all: Not only cost-effective, although that's a major plus of his films, but also highly effective concerning characters, story, suspense. There is no unnecessary ballast, no unnecessarily neat effects which would draw the audience's attention; Carpenter movies are about storytelling. He doesn't need a famous cast, he rather seems to favor less known actors or those who'd usually not play the lead - so at first sight, the appeal of a cheap movie with little effects and nobody from the upper Hollywood actors league seems rather small. But once the film has started, the first thing capturing the audience is the score. Being of the same innate simplicity as all the other ingredients of his movies, it is nonetheless gripping and captivating: Being of a compelling intensity, it throws us right into the action. The music promises what will be fulfilled by the climax, but at first, the buildup leads us consequently into the lives of the main characters. Ordinary people mostly, doing ordinary things. Suspense, however, exists by the musical theme reminding us of the conflict yet to come, and various events upping the ante: At a certain point, the critical mass of groundwork is reached and the action sets in, and it is done rather obviously and drastically. In 'Assault', the scene which regains the pace, the ice cone, is amongst the most shocking of all; and then, hell breaks loose. Not in an overdone manner, but carefully and poignantly. (Mar 19, 2000)
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