The John Carpenter I know is the horror defining, shlock peddler. The Thing and They Live were personal favourites when I first watched them a couple of years back, but I’ve never found any interest in returning to his work. In part due to how distracted I feel myself become when trying to engage with a large body of work, but also because there are a couple films within Carpenter’s filmography that just didn’t look all that great. Assault on Precinct 13, his feature-length debut, was one of the few remaining that I had a semblance of interest in. A somewhat serious action thriller detailing a ragtag group trapped inside a police station in a soon to be defunct precinct.
Under siege from the many villains of said precinct, our group find themselves holding out through the night as gangs pile in through the windows looking to kill whoever is inside. I’m not entirely sure there’s a reason for why they’re doing this, but there doesn’t need to be one. Quick, violent action with plentiful amounts of shootouts, renegade characters and sharp, witty writing. Taking form in such a forthright manner, Carpenter blends a simplistic story with pangs of gritty Westerns, cultural commentary, and bloody good fun. It’s a mixture that’s hard to perfect, but Assault on Precinct 13 manages it with tremendous style and grace.
Forgettable performances do put a dampener on this one, though, not entirely negating the prolific style on show here, but certainly denting it a bit. It’s an odd mixture, where the slick style and superb pacing make up for the rather weak-willed character direction and growth. There doesn’t need to be much growth, though, Carpenter’s hopes of boiling this down to a fight for survival is at the very core of his message, and I suppose it works if we consider these characters as mere hosts for ourselves. They’re interchangeable, we can slide ourselves into their scenario with ease, we can connect with their fears, desires, and survivalist instincts as they fight for their lives. Their decisions, mistakes, and choices are human, they’re subject to error and Carpenter manages to express that through characters that feel clunky, but produce undeniably solid results.
With pangs of Night of the Living Dead, Romero brings us a great feature-length debut, one that has a good chunk of action and the necessary build-up to make it interesting. A great deal of memorable set pieces, shootouts, and simplistic motivation for our characters, Assault on Precinct 13 comes together startlingly well. An incredible debut experience, possibly one of the strongest on offer, a film that cements the stylish choices and creative camerawork of its director in a mere ninety minutes.
