“In the meantime, I got this plan. It's called “Save Ass.” And the way it works is this – I slip outta one of these windows and I run like a bastard!”
You just don't get dialogue like that anymore. Hell, you could say the same thing about “John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13.” Campy, low-budget, yet competently made movies are, sadly, a thing of the past. Nowadays, if they are low budget, they aren't made with a hand anywhere near as sure as Carpenter's. (sigh)
For being only his second film, it was actually pretty decent -- at times masterful, yet still falling short of being a masterpiece. All the Carpenter staples are there: from the wonderfully bad acting to the simplistic yet effective synthesizer music, With stops in the middle for an assortment of strangers flung together by fate to battle a rarely seen and impetuous evil.
The story is clear... sort of. Even Carpenter admitted some of the elements were “murky” on the DVD commentary. Ethan Bishop (the marvelously named Austin Stoker) is keeping a watch over a police house in the process of being decommissioned. With him are two sectaries/switchboard operators, Julie (Nancy Kyes) and Leigh (Laurie Zimmer). A Prison transfer bus stops by, because one of their prisoners is sick. While they are waiting the station is assailed by a gang. Killing all but two of the new arrivals. There is the nefarious Napoleon Wilson (with the prodigious name of Darwin Joston) and a prisoner known only as Wells (mundanely christened Tony Burton). Among the casualties are the warden, Starker ( the divine alliteration of Charles Cyphers).
Now you may be asking, “Why is this gang attacking this police station?” That's a perfectly fair question. Let's see if we can figure it out. It's either a.) One of their members was killed by Lawson (the blandly titled Martin West), the man who ran into the station. Granted, he shot the gang member because the gang member shot his little girl, Kathy (Kim Richards). So apparently this chain of events caused this gang to just charge our hapless heroes en masse. Or there's b.) Sunspots.
(stifling laughter) I love John Carpenter.
The acting is crap-tatic all around. The best performances come from Burton and Stoker. They manage to bring some energy, while everyone else seems to sleep walk through their roles. Yet the standout is Darwin Jotson. He is phenomenally bland, so much so that he becomes fascinating to watch. It's the Uncanny Valley Effect, which is essentially the theory that says once something reaches a certain point then becomes the opposite of what it is.
Now I would like to retract a statement from my previous essay. The statement was, "...he cannot resist the ever-fickle siren song known as the 'Casio keyboard.'" Upon listening to the DVD commentary and talking to some friends who are more musically inclined than myself, I realize I was in the wrong. When "Assault" was made, synthesizers were not as common as they are today. In fact, the recording process was such that you had to record one track for each chord, or something along those lines. In other words, while now we would just use a keyboard, back then it was a long and arduous mixing process. With this information it makes the movie's musical score all the more impressive. For while it sounds like the base line for a bad 80's dance song, it is, in fact, pretty good considering what he had to work with.
The movie has a wonderfully slow yet rapt pace to it. It is very much an urban western. Urban in setting and cast, but western in mood and style. In fact, Carpenter has cited "Rio Bravo" as a major influence. Indeed, the long pans of the local landscape and terse delivery of the dialogue only serve to prove that fact.
There is a scene I must mention, which stands out. It involves two prisoners trying to decide who goes on the suicide mission the group has come up with. They make the decision by playing an ancient hand jive game known as "Hot Potato." There's something uniquely entrancing about watching two grown men play this game. To give Carpenter his due: he manages to, in the midst of this absurdity, create a thin veil of suspense. Achieved through a mixture of cut-aways, slow zooms, and music. An early hint of his technical mastery.
The faceless army of gang members are seen as just that, faceless. They spend most of the movie obscured by shadows. Their reason for attacking our hapless heroes in a "kamikazi" fashion is loosely explained. They are trying to kill a bereaved father.
Yet can they really be that mad? Did they not expect some kind of retribution for killing a little girl? Especially from the father? Of course, there's always the "Sun Spots" theory. (smile)
There is a remake of, "Assault on Precinct 13". Unlike the remake of "Escape From New York," it is not by Carpenter. In fact, from what I've read it contains actual actors: the depressingly underrated Brian Dennehy, Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne, among others. They have even given it a full blown plot, free of the murkiness of the original. Sadly, in the modern update there is no Napoleon Wilson.
What made the original soooo good was that it managed to be good in spite of itself. I guarantee the remake doesn't have anything half as original or bizarre as the "Hot Potato" scene, and that's a shame. Real plot, real actors... no fun. Talk about failure to understand the source material.
*** ½ out of *****
Yours Until Hell Freezes Over,
Jeremiah
March 07, 2008
"John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13" DVD Review -Jeremiah (3.5 out of 5)
March 03, 2008
Director of the Month: John Carpenter -Jeremiah
What makes a director good, or even great? What defines a master of the cinematic craft?
There's no real answer. Different things work for different directors. What makes Kurosawa great, isn't what makes Wilder great. Herzog is different from Spielberg.
Every once and a while, I'll take a month and spotlight a director. For that month I'll only review movies by that director.
So the question you must be asking yourself now is, “Who's it going to be this month?”
In this first month, I'll be pleasing two masters: myself and, my fellow Three Geek member, Kloiber. He's been grumbling about how we've only been reviewing good movies. I don't see that as a vice really, but I understand where he's coming from.
The inaugural Director of the Month is John Carpenter.
I love John Carpenter because, no matter what film it is, you can always tell that he's trying. He may be failing a lot, but you can just feel him trying. The man at least deserves an A+ for effort.
Carpenter is often cited for his success in merging science fiction with horror. I would like to add one more genre, one that he often mixes in along with science fiction and horror; that is the western. Look at “Escape From New York” or “Assault on Precinct 13”; the western element is so imposing that one wonders how this aspect of Carpenter's film-making is so often omitted.
He also exhibits a quirky obsession with stories where a small band of strangers are flung together in a remote location to do battle with an abrupt evil (Note: It may also be a group of friends, instead of the “strangers” scenario). But the constant plot staple is the group of people in an isolated area doing battle with evil, both unexpected and unseen.
Though he's one of my favorite directors, if you take any Carpenter movie and apply more than a grain of logic, the movie crumbles. That's part of the allure though. What fantastically ludicrous situation involving some random roving band of misfits will he come up with next!?
Technically, he's great. His minimalist style is reminiscent of Ford's or Hawks'. At times he channels Hitchcock. It's those damn actors that trip him up every time. He does wonders behind the camera, with lights and mood, and does a whiz-bang job in the editing room. But he cannot get a great performance out of an inexperienced actor or actress to save his life. They have to be established, or at least used to working with him to really turn in a good performance: Kurt Russell, Donald Pleasence, Wilford Brimley, Harry Dean Stanton (choirs of Angels sing), Jamie Lee Curtis, Jeff Bridges, Adrienne Barbeau (again with the angels), and so on.
If they're new, or the type of actor that needs help or some coaching of some type, then they're... well not bad, but Carpenter bad. They're charmingly bad. You watch them, and you kind of go, “Awww....you're so bad.” But Carpenter is also a master of statistics: nine times out of ten, you forgive them and just go with the flow.
That's his real genius: his ability to make you forget. He could probably find better actors, but instead he makes you savor what he chose. I'm positive it's some kind of weird, hammy, voodoo magic.
In addition to writing, directing and producing, he is also a musical composer. Carpenter seems enthralled by that ever fickle siren known as the “Casio keyboard.” His strange obsession with electronic overtures is another part of his charm. True, he misses more times than he hits, but when he hits we get simple masterpieces such as the theme from “Halloween.” His music is often very simple, yet, when done right, eerily effective.
Carpenter has a phenomenal talent for working on a shoestring budget. In fact, this is one of the few things that sets Carpenter apart from his peers. More than likely, he works so well with so little because of his minimalist style. His wonderfully conservative economy of shots, lean story elements and subtext-free dialogue.
To contradict his love of minimalism is his undying affliction with “the name-title” syndrome. I find it to be a cute little eccentricity. It's not just “The Fog,” it's “John Carpenter's The Fog.” It's his little nod to the old days. Or, some people might say, that's him being courteous and giving you a warning. But those people are called bastards.
He is considered by many to be a hack. I disagree. He can be great; most of the times he's good. Always interesting in some form or another. His overlooked “Prince of Darkness,” while not perfect (or really all that good) has one of the most unique plots in recent history. If he fails to deliver -- well, sometimes... that's Carpenter. That's part of the fun with him. It's like a crap shoot, “Is Carpenter going to suck tonight?” Who knows? Hell, he probably doesn't even know.
He seems to be surprisingly down to earth. Oddly accessible to fans, he can always be found doing a Q&A at some convention or other. His love for the cinema is matched only by his love for his audience.
Speaking of which, a Carpenter fan is liable to be an interesting conversation partner. They range from the “I love him, but he's done some real garbage” to the “Carpenter! He is my MASTER! I serve him and only him!” The last one you obviously want to be wary of... unless you're into that kind of thing. Whatever, I'm not judging.
In short, this month is going to be quite the adventure. I'll be watching some of his lesser-known works, as well as his most popular. A nice little mixture, I hope. The kick off movie will be, “Assault on Precinct 13”.
So... you ready to take the Carpenter gamble with me?
Yours Until Hell Freezes Over,
Jeremiah
Stumble it!