Jackson Booth-Millard 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!

Michael R As I watched this film, I kept thinking how the plot devices very much resemble those of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. As in NOTLD, we see a group of strangers in a structure desperately trying to survive the deadly attackers that are attempting to break in and kill them. Both movies show the principle players going through their doubts, fears and angst between each other as the story unfolds. Also, I felt that there were parallels between Ethan Bishop's (Stoker) and Ben's (Jones in NOTLD) characters as they both took on an important leadership role and kept things 'on track' for all of the other players. NOTLD was released in 1968 and AOP13 was released in 1976, so this would have given Carpenter the right amount of time to allow NOTLD to percolate in his consciousness. Anyway, it makes sense to me.Overall, I liked the film. But I personally prefer Carpenter's films containing supernatural overtones. I believe that he did a great job considering the budget that he had to work with. I thoroughly enjoyed the DVD extra of an audience participation interview with Carpenter and Austin Stoker after a screening of AOP13 (Special Edition DVD release). This is a must-see!

hellholehorror The picture quality was variable with the darker scenes looking especially bad. The music was occasionally annoying and the sound effects felt a little empty but that kinda worked in its favour to some extent. The pace of the film was very good. It kept moving and I was never bored. The action was entertaining and it was a bit different to watch. I liked the fast ending. Scary because of the feeling of gritty helplessness.

FlashCallahan An L.A. street gang declares war on a police station about to be shut down that has given refuge to a man who has witnessed a gang slaying, and killed one of them.Because of the shutdown, the phones and electricity have been turned off, and gang members await outside with knives and guns where the precinct has been totally shut off from the outside world......A loose remake of Rio Bravo, AOP13 is an intense ride from beginning to end, and although that sounds like a cliché and a half, the intensity of the silence once the titular assault begins, it can almost deafen yours senses.Apart from the fact that not all the characters are fleshed out, Carpenter keeps the dialogue to the minimum, and let the squibs do the talking.The series of events that cause that cause the assault are pretty unnerving, and I guarantee you'll never question what kind of gelato you are served with in future.The gang are sinister, almost zombie like, and if the film had any horror elements to it, the gang are a hybrid of the pirates from The Fog, The Shape from Halloween, and The Dukes Gang from EFNY. It's as if Carpenter has written these members in a sort of Carpenter-esque multiverse.The soundtrack is compelling, and the lighting adds much to the mise en scene.Check it out, it shows again just what a masterful film maker he was in his heyday.