Surprisingly incoherent and boring

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Well,I'm not mentioning Kim Richards role,as I've got to rewatch again tonight to see her.Joston,Walker,Laurie Zimmer,Tony Burton are outstanding,as is Frank Doubleday RIP.Did not expect such a powerful film,giving as it's only Carpenter's second as director,a Rio Bravo-type,appreciate it more knowing that.As to the Ghosts Of Mars comparison,watched Ghosts in theater,and everytime it's on cable and I love it!Jason Statham before he became really famous,Pam Greer,Natasha Henstridge,Ice Cube all did good jobs,the zombie parts a little bit much,but okay.Maybe the special effects didn't live up to some people's qualifications,but I could care.Ghosts and Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) get my full recommendations.

I had already seen the 2005 remake about ten years before, I couldn't remember it very well, and I found out this original cult movie was rated the full 5 out of 5 stars by critics, so I was looking forward to seeing what it had to offer, directed by John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Starman). Basically in Anderson, a crime-infested ghetto in South Central Los Angeles, a local gang known as Street Thunder have stolen a large number of assault rifles and pistols. At 3am, a team of heavily armed LAPD officers ambush and kill six members of the gang. Later, the four warlords of the gang swear a blood oath of revenge against the police and citizens of Los Angeles. During the day, three events occur at the same time: newly promoted CHP officer Lieutenant Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker) is assigned to take charge of the decommissioned Anderson police Precinct 13 during the final hours before it is permanently closed, it is manned by lifeless staff Sergeant Chaney (Henry Brandon) and two secretaries, Leigh (Laurie Zimmer) and Julie (Nancy Loomis). Across town, two of the Street Thunder warlords and two other gang members are driving around looking for people to kill, one of the warlord's shoots and kills a little girl, Kathy (Kim Richards), and an Ice Cream Man (Peter Bruni). Kathy's father, Lawson (Martin West), pursues and kills the warlord, the other gang members chase him into the Anderson precinct, Lawson is in such shock he is unable to explain what has happened to him. Soon, a prison bus commanded by Starker (Charles Cyphers) stops at the station with three prisoners, Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston), Wells (Tony Burton), and Caudell (Peter Frankland), who needs medical assistance, they are being transported to the state prison. As the prisoners are put in cells, the telephone lines go dead, and when Starker is about to put the prisoners back on the bus, the gang opens fires at the precinct, using weapons with silencers. In seconds, they kill Chaney, the bus driver, Caudell, Starker, and the two officers accompanying Starker. Bishop unchains Wilson from Starker's body and takes him and Wells back to the cells, then the gang cut the station's electricity and begin shooting again. Bishop sends Leigh to release Wells and Wilson, the two prisoners help the officers repel an attempted invasion, but Julie is killed in the firefight. Gang members remove all evidence of the gunfight to avoid attracting outside attention, Bishop hopes that someone has heard the guns, but the neighbourhood has very few residents. Wells tries to sneak out of the precinct through the sewer to hot-wire a car, but he is killed by a gang member hiding in the backseat, but two officers responding to reports of gunfire find the body and call for backup. The gang rallies for an all-out final assault, while Wilson, Leigh and Bishop go to the basement, taking the still catatonic Lawson with them. As the gang storm the building, Bishop shoots a tank full of acetylene gas, it explodes and kills the gang members in the basement, while the remaining gang members retreat as police support to secure the station. Going down to the basement, the police officers find dozens of dead and badly burned bodies, Bishop, Leigh, Wilson and Lawson are the only survivors. Also starring John J. Fox as Warden. It is a simple story, a virtually deserted police station is besieged by heavily armed criminals, and the police get the criminals inside to help stop them, the bloody violence is most memorable, notably the shocking ice cream van sequence, Carpenter gives this B-movie a real eeriness, including his great synthesiser score, an interesting independent action thriller. Very good!

Initially controversial for its then uncompromising violence and flashes of unrelenting sadism, this expertly set-up action-flick makes good on its promise of an explosive finale but spends just as much time building its fantastic characters so that its tension is true and palpable. 'Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)' is fantastically well-realised and brings a relatively realistic grit to all of its sequences, painting a picture of a near inescapable situation and putting your smack-dab in the centre of it, and it is gripping pretty much right from the off. 7/10

The remake with Ethan Hawke was a okay action movie in my mind until i saw the original Assault on Precinct 13 directed by John Carpenter i'm now completely hate the remake cause it ruin all the stuff make the original so special.The movie very intense very atmospheric and fill with strong performance thought out the movie make it a classic action movie of the 70s.The bad guys is human but this movie portray them in a very sinister way that give me the creep everytime they appear on screen with the hollow eyes and zombie movement