Review of Assault on Precinct 13 (Special Edition)

Introduction

The incorrectly named Assault On Precinct 13 was John Carpenter`s follow-up to Dark Star, an opportunity arising when a group of independent investors offered him $100k to make the film of his choice. Carpenter really wanted to make a Western, but limited by the budget opted for a modern day re-make of Rio Bravo.

The film starts with the ambush of a half dozen members of the Street Thunder gang, all killed under the shotgun fire of the waiting Police. The leadership of the gang swear a blood oath to avenge their fallen comrades, eventually picking on an ice cream van driver with a brightly coloured shirt. In the process of this act of vengeance, one of the gang shoots a young girl wanting an ice cream in a scene that is quite shocking, although in cinematic terms not as shocking as upon first release. The girl`s father chases the gang and kills the murderer of his daughter, then is chased by the remainder of the gang.

He ends up in the Precinct 9 (Division 13) police station where Lieutenant Bishop is overseeing the final stages of the closure of this station. Simultaneously, a coach load of prisoners headed for prison ends up at the same station due to one of their number being seriously ill. An attack by the gang on the station ends up with a number of dead, and the remainder must pit their wits against the unseen but growing numbers against them.

Video

Remastered and presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, this is how the film should have looked. The drawback, however, is that the film does show it`s age, and I`m not just talking about the haircuts and dodgy fashion sense. Big concrete buildings are the order of the day, along with very dark lighting. Not in an X-Files sense though, as sometimes it`s hard to make out exactly what`s going on. None of this really detracts from the film though.

Audio

The music for this film is provided by John Carpenter himself, primarily because he couldn`t afford to get anyone-else to do it for him. The soundtrack is effectively made up of two parts, a soft piece for the lighter parts of the film and the main theme for the heavier and more drama/action-driven parts. The latter is a pulsing, brooding synthesiser piece that is highly reminiscent of Travelogue-era Human League. Despite being composed in 1976, it hasn`t dated and was even included on a recent Back To Mine CD by Richard X.

Features

Not much considering this is Special Widescreen Edition; you really would have thought more effort would have been made.

Commemorative Booklet - well detailed and nicely written booklet on the film and its background.

Trailer - very poorly lit trailer, not much use to be honest.

Photo Gallery - just a few stills from the film plus a film poster that also reproduced in the booklet.

Overall a wasted opportunity.

Conclusion

The film itself is a welcome re-release, looking the way it should have done on its previous release. This is arguably one of Carpenter`s best pieces of work and deserves to be seen by a modern audience who will soon be subjected to one of the curses of modern cinematic history: the re-interpretation.

In true B-movie style, some of the acting is more wooden than the trees at the bottom of my garden. This doesn`t matter so much though, as the script is deliberately minimal, with Carpenter allowing a lot of improvisation from his core actors. The central quartet of Bishop (Austin Stoker), convicted murderer Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston), Leigh (Laurie Zimmer) and Wells (Tony Burton) are outstanding, the sexual tension between Wilson and Leigh quite overwhelming in parts.

One of the funniest things I now know about this film centres around the ice van murders. The original censors threatened the film with an audience-killing X certificate if the little girl`s murder was not cut. The scene was duly cut, the film was given an R rating and then released to the cinemas uncut!

An odd thing about this film is the inter-racial nature of the gang themselves, which doesn`t seem that realistic. That said, for the most part of the film they are an unseen force of overwhelming numbers, so that doesn`t matter so much. The film is slow paced and this allows the tension to gradually build to the thrilling last stand at the climax.

Anyway, to paraphrase Not The Nine O`Clock News: nice film, shame about the DVD. So much more effort could have been made for this to make it more attractive to those who both know the film and those who recognise the title of the upcoming re-make. It is truly a crime that this film doesn`t get the release it deserves.