Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)

Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)

Directed and written by John Carpenter

John Carpenter was one of the great auteurs of US film making in the the last quarter of the last century and Assault On Precinct 13 (his second feature, after the uber-cult Dark Star (1974), demonstrates all of his abilities and showcases his skill with what would normally be considered B-Movie material and resources.

The film opens with a police ambush and killing of a group of multi-ethnic gang members; then shows the leaders of these gangs in a pledging ritual as they unite against a common enemy.

We are then introduced, in a quiet and unfussy way, the characters at the centre of the story arriving at the titular police precinct house. The newly promoted lieutenant whose first task is to oversee the last night shift at the station house prior to it's re-location in the morning ; his staff (two non-uniform women responsible for admin. duties and a disinterested career uniformed officer), three prisoners being transferred by bus from one facility to another by a Special Agent and his two gun-toting guards and a middle aged man and his young daughter who get lost in the neighbourhood while driving to a relative's house. 

The cast is made up of pretty much unknown actors, which is Carpenter's first touch of brilliance : there's no obvious hero figure in these early scenes and no big name actor who the viewer would assume would still be standing at the end of the film. All of the characters are given equal weight during the getting-to-know-you scenes, there's no attempt to establish back-story - we are pitched straight into the middle of these people's (apparently) commonplace workday and there's no hint at what's to come or who will or will not emerge from events.

The action in the story is triggered by a genuinely shocking killing which comes at the conclusion of an expertly handled scene where the tension and air of menace is beautifully layered as repetitive action constantly builds and releases until the explosive moment arrives.

Twenty minutes into the running time and night has fallen and all of the characters are in place for the action which constitutes the rest of the film.

There's plenty to admire during the siege of the precinct house : there's the brilliant device by which the gang members all use weapons fitted with silencers - there's something far more sinister about the distant "pop pop" of rifle and small arm fire than would have been the case if they had been armed with chattering, clattering automatic weapons.

The initial assault on the building is beautifully shot - blinds dance in their fittings as they are riddled with bullets, a pile of papers on a desk flies in balletic slow motion, the walls become pock-marked by impact. There's a sense of unsurvivable storm and yet we are also aware that this is only the opening round in the ordeal the characters will face.

From this point the action is fairly unrelenting and the tension is constantly notched up as the remaining defenders of the precinct dwindle in number, escape begins to appear more and more and hopeless and the numbers of assailants seems to increase each time they are glimpsed flitting through the surrounding gloom.

I like the central conceit that there's a massive fire-fight happening int he middle of a large city yet (for various reasons) the authorities seem to be either unaware of it or unable to locate it : it's an item later reprised in the first Die Hard.

There's a lot of referencing back to classic Western films (especially Hawks' Rio Bravo) : you can read the precinct as an outpost fort under attack by an indigenous population who don't welcome their presence.. Will the cavalry arrive in time to save those inside?

Everything's under pinned by Carpenter's (self-composed) electronic score which thumps and pumps during the action scenes, fading back away and then returning as another wave of danger approaches. The sound design is spot-on and Carpenter's editing is so sharp you could cut paper with it. There's hardly a wasted frame through the entire length of the film and the last hour is cut perfectly.

Assault On Precinct 13 is the realisation of an individual conception and the execution of a very simple idea but it's done with such care and obvious love that the end result is an extraordinary piece of work that can easily hold it's own among the mega-budget action thrillers that were to come pouring out of Hollywood in the coming years.