Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

"Look at that, two cops wishing me luck. I'm doomed."

After a group of gang members are ambushed and killed by the police their leaders issue a Cholo, a blood oath to kill with no fear or want for their own lives. The four leaders arm themselves and go out on the hunt. When they commit an extreme act of violence, the father of one of their victims follows and kills one of them. They chase the man to a police station and instigate a siege. Meanwhile, the police are transporting a group of prisoners that includes the dangerous Napoleon Wilson to San Quentin when one of them gets sick. They've no other choice but to stop the bus at the nearest police station and wait for a doctor. The closest one is the soon-to-be-shut-down Precinct 13 and the only people there are a rookie lieutenant and a couple of office workers. As they wait, a man runs in. All of a sudden the phone lines are cut and the small group find themselves in a fight to the death.

John Carpenter's second major movie is another lesson in budget film making. Shot in only 20 days and for the (comparatively) tiny sum of $150,000, Carpenter wrote, directed, edited and even wrote the score for this modern day Western. And a Western it is. Napoleon's repeated line of "got a smoke" is an homage to Howard Hawks and his use of jokes about cigarettes in his Westerns, Carpenter edited the film under the name John T. Chance, John Wayne's name in Rio Bravo and one of the film's early working titles was The Anderson Alamo, the Alamo being one of the most famous sieges in the history of the old West. On top of that there are lines, action and shooting techniques (both camera and gun) borrowed from everything from Once Upon a Time in The West to The Wild Bunch.
The cast were relative unknowns with Tony Burton and Charles Cyphers probably being the most recognisable. Burton landed good rolling parts in all of the Rocky movies as Apollo's trainer and Cyphers is a stalwart member of the Carpenter 'crew' along with making many appearances in TV programmes. Austin Stoker, the lieutenant, had previously had a role in Battle for the Planet of the Apes  before becoming a blacksploitation star and Darwin Joston, Napoleon, would do well in both Eraserhead and The Fog.

Though the concept is a little silly the dialogue is good, the opening is nicely shocking and the action is well paced and fun. On top of that, the soundtrack, like in most of John Carpenter's films, is great.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074156/?ref_=nm_knf_t1