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Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Director:
John Carpenter
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Crime/Thriller
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Hatets natt
RUNNING TIME
91 minutes
Producers:
J. S. Kaplan
Screenwriters:
John Carpenter


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Lt. Ethan Bishop Austin Stoker
Napoleon Wilson Darwin Joston
Leigh Laurie Zimmer ½
Lawson Martin West
Wells Tony Burton
Special Officer Starker Charles Cyphers
Julie Nancy Loomis
Sgt. Chaney Henry Brandon
Kathy Kim Richards
White Warlord Frank Doubleday

 

Review

A harrowing music theme and ominous, non-verbal scenes of deserted streets, gathering passive-aggressive gangs and a police force caught in the middle of a transition from old-fashioned to modern set the stage for this intense and tight chiller from writer/director/editor/composer John Carpenter. The talented filmmaker had just made his first feature, Dark Star, and was given full artistic freedom by producer J. S. Kaplan. Carpenter has said that he drew inspiration from both Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo and George Romero's Night of the Living Dead when writing the script, and while that's an interesting combo, it's not really the script in itself that makes Assault on Precinct 13 so effective, even if it's clever enough. The secret is Carpenter's craftsmanship behind the camera and the rather unique mood which is created by the combination of his camerawork, his musical score and the somewhat stylized performances he gets out of his actors. There's little doubt that Michael Jackson drew inspiration from Assault on Precinct 13 for his many successful music videos of the 1980s.

Copyright © 4.5.2015 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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