Not to be confused with the less memorable 2004 remake, Officer Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker) is a new Lieutenant with the Highway Patrol. It's his first night out and is somewhat dismayed to find his first assignment being to simply watch over an old police precinct whilst the occupants relocate to the new station.

At first things are fairly boring, with nothing to do but stare at the packing crates and redirect the occasional caller to the new station. The only other people in the building being a couple of office workers, a desk sergeant and a couple of prisoners on route to the county jail who've had to postpone their journey.

However things change very rapidly when a distraught man rushes in and collapses at the main desk, claiming he's being chased by someone. Before the remaining staff can work out what he's talking about, the power and telephone lines go out and they find themselves being shot at by snipers with silencers.

Outmanned, outgunned and with no way of calling for help, Bishop and the surviving staff members, along with the two prisoners, end up fighting along side each other with the few weapons they have, as the gang members lay siege to the building and attempt to wipe out everyone inside.

More of an action/suspense thriller than a horror picture, but one I'm sure that exploitation/cult movie lovers will thoroughly enjoy. This is definitely one of John carpenters better works.

Overall marks : 7/10.

Other Information.

• The film was basically a re-working of the old John Wayne western "Rio Bravo". John Carpenter actually wrote the script under the pseudonym "John T Chance" which was the name of Wayne's character in that film.

• This was John Carpenters first proper major motion picture, which he was able to make after his expanded student film "Dark Star" had managed to get a theatrical release and become something of a cult hit.

• The film was written under the title "The Anderson Alamo", but for it's release was changed to "The Siege". However the distributors weren't too keen on this title and so changed it to "Assault on precinct 13". Close viewers will note however that the film actually takes place at Precinct 9, Division 13.

• The films budget was $100,000

• The scene where the young girl gets shot was done by having an air line sticking out the back of her ice-cream cone blow fake blood on her, rather than have an explosive blood pack stuck to her.

• Austin Stoker is probably best known for his role as MacDonald in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes". Although he rarely acts on screen today he still regularly appears on stage.

• The desk sergeant was played by Henry Brandon. John Carpenter cast him as he played opposite John Wayne in the film "The Searchers".

• The police ambush during the films intro was only added after they started editing the film together and realised the beginning needed more action.

• When originally released in the US the film didn't fair very well at the box office. It was only after the film was shown in the UK to rave reviews that the film finally caught in in America.

Cast & Crew.

Cover Gallery.

Theatrical trailer. (1.71MB)

Buy the UK DVD

Buy the US DVD.

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Other recommended John Carpenter films.

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