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Inside, Lieutenant Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker) has been given final command of the station and all he has to do is pack the place up, shut the lights off and leave the key under the mat in the morning. His only company on this lonesome detail are the station’s two dispatchers, Leigh (Laurie Zimmer), Julie (Nancy Loomis) and a couple of guys we’ll call Officer Cold Corpse and Detective Easy Target. Around the same time the Distraught Father runs into the station for help, a prison bus pulls up around back. Three convicts were on their way to the lockup when one of them fell ill, forcing the driver to make an unscheduled stop. Among the passengers is Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston), a smart alec killer on his way to Death Row (needless to say, his presence eventually comes in handy).

In the middle of all this confusion, the gang unleashes a ferocious attack on the station, catching everyone by surprise and leaving only Bishop, Leigh, Napoleon and another prisoner named Wells (Tony Burton) alive. Terrified, confused, cut off from the rest of the city and low on ammo, the unlikely group must join forces to survive until help arrives.

On the surface, this description might lead you to make a knee jerk comparison to other siege films of the era like Dog Day Afternoon or The Gauntlet. But Dog Day Afternoon is based on a true story (seriously) and The Gauntlet is just a mindless action fantasy - not to mention both of those films were blessed with bigger budgets and more influential directors. Assault on Precinct 13 was an ultra low budget horror film in an urban setting - and it was Carpenter’s uniquely sublime instinct for the genre that made it unique.

Yes, the story sounds like something out of a USA Network original movie. And the climax, by today’s standards, is slightly more thrilling than listening to NASCAR on the radio. But urban crime in America was far worse 35 years ago, and to those living in large cities the issue was a source of constant anxiety. The idea of a ruthless street gang taking over a police station is terrifying, and I can only imagine watching this movie in a darkened theater at a time when it didn’t seem nearly as far fetched as it does today.

Carpenter has a gift for atmosphere - his greatest attribute is his ability to take a wafer thin idea and extend it into a 90 minute parade of shadows and silence, underscored by the lurking certainty of hideous death. To that end, he experiments here with techniques that would later become his trademarks. Sparse camera movement, an embrace of shadow and an amateurish, brooding electronic soundtrack lend Assault a threadbare, do-it-yourself vibe that’s ideal for the subject matter. This is a straightforward film with a simple, no nonsense story. And like most stories it contains elements of others – most notably and old John Wayne film called Rio Bravo. But it’s an intentional homage, so if you’re the sort of person who insists that Hollywood is out of ideas, remember that turning old things into new things is pretty much what creativity is all about. I’d also be happy to hear the last idea YOU had for a movie.

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