Halloween [1978] (5 Stars)

It's my custom to watch this film every year on 31st October. I was actually considering watching the new Halloween trilogy instead this year, but I decided against it. Maybe next year.

Success Rate:  + 213.4

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Halloween [1978] (5 Stars)

It's time for my Halloween tradition. This is the film I watch every year on October 31st. Or should I say 31st October? In England it's usual to put the day first, but over the years I've grown used to the American order. I usually avoid Americanisms, but I've never claimed to be consistent.

Incidentally, I actually watched this film after midnight on November 1st. There was too much going on for me to watch it on Halloween itself. I've backdated my review to 11:59 pm on October 31st.

Yesterday was the first time my grandson Oliver ever went trick-or-treating. He went out with his father, my son-in-law. He said he would only go walking, not knock on any doors. It's not something that's done a lot in Germany. But then he saw some teenagers collecting sweets, so he plucked up courage. Oliver got some sweets on the way, but not very many. Not many families were prepared. Maybe next year.

This is me in my first and only Halloween costume, way back in 2014. No, I didn't go trick-or-treating, I just threatened beautiful young women. Unfortunately, I wasn't very good at it. Look how the woman is grinning. She knew me too well. I'm the most harmless man alive.

I didn't encourage Oliver to wear the costume. He picked it himself. A good choice. Serial killing must be in the Hood genes. Oh wait! Didn't I just say I was harmless?

Before anyone says anything, I'm ashamed that my room (where Oliver was standing) looks so dirty. I never pay attention when I walk in and out. I'll sweep the floor tomorrow. I promise.

Success Rate:  + 213.4

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Halloween 2 (4½ Stars)

"Don't you know what happens at Halloween?" – "Yeah! We get candy!"

This is a direct sequel to "Halloween". It was made three years later, in 1981, but it starts immediately after the events of the first film. It's more accurate to say that the films overlap, because the first three minutes of "Halloween 2" is a repeat of the last three minutes of "Halloween".

Michael Myers was shot six times, but after falling out of the window he got up and walked away. Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) is determined to catch him before he can kill anyone else.

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) received a stab wound in the first film, so she's taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. Michael Myers follows her to the hospital. He stalks the corridors, killing person after person while searching for her.

This film reveals why he wants to kill Laurie. Unknown to her, she's Michael's sister. She was adopted when her parents died. He killed one of his sisters, now he wants to kill the other.

"Halloween 2" isn't quite up to the standard of the first film. Almost, but not quite. Nevertheless, it's a film that tidily rounds off the Michael Myers saga. Michael is burnt to a crisp and couldn't possibly survive. John Carpenter intended it to be the end of the character, but the studios thought differently.

Success Rate:  + 8.2

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Halloween [1978] (5 Stars)

I didn't watch a horror film every day this month, but I'm keeping to my tradition of watching the original version of "Halloween" every year on 31st October. It's a relatively new tradition; this is only my third year. This year I'm making it a double bill, watching "Halloween" and "Halloween 2" back to back. I don't know if I'll do that every year from now on. Maybe. They go well together, because the action continues seamlessly from the first film to the next.

I'm not going to write a review of the film. I assume everyone knows it, unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last 45 years.

Success Rate:  + 213.4

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Escape From New York (2 Stars)

This is the film I originally planned as the third film in my John Carpenter mini-marathon. It's a film I'd never seen before. I'd heard good things about it, and it's considered a cult film, so I sat down to watch it with high expectations. After less than ten minutes I was already disappointed.

The plot: in the near future (1997) Manhattan has been turned into a high security prison. The tunnels have been closed, and only one bridge is still in use. The American president's plane, Air Force One, has been hijacked by a terrorist group. The president is ejected in an escape pod, which lands in Manhattan. He's captured by criminals who hold him to ransom.

Snake Plissken, a highly decorated war hero, has been arrested after attempting to rob the Federal Reserve. He's due to be imprisoned for life in Manhattan, but the police commissioner makes him a deal: if he can rescue the president he'll be pardoned.

That's a twisted premise. Why would Manhattan of all places be used as a prison? It's the location of some of America's most valuable real estate, including the World Trade Center. One of the smaller Hawaian islands would be more suitable. Manhattan has been chosen so that the locations can be recognised, albeit in a chaotic, dystopian condition.

And that brings me to why I don't like the film. Dystopian. I don't like films where society has fallen apart. Mostly this applies to post-apocalyptic films, the aftermath of a large scale war, but in the case of "Escape From New York" it's the aftermath of Manhattan being handed over to criminals.

The film has a redeeming feature. Adrienne Barbeau appears as a criminal called Maggie. At the time the film was made she was married to John Carpenter.

This is John Carpenter's fifth film. There's a progression in the budget, from his meagre beginnings.

1974	Dark Star	$60,000
1976	Assault on Precinct 13	$100,000
1978	Halloween	$300,000
1980	The Fog	$1,100,000
1981	Escape From New York	$6,000,000

The simple graph is a screenshot from Excel. If I had more time I'd draw it by hand to make it look better, but I think it's sufficient to show how much money he had available. Does the extra money mean an increase in quality? Definitely not. If you read my reviews you'll see that I rated the first three films five stars, "The Fog" four stars, and "Escape From New York" two stars. The quality is inversely proportional to the budget. Someone should have taken John Carpenter's money away. That's the only way his films could have been improved.

Success Rate:  + 2.2

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Halloween 2 (4 Stars)

This wan't intended to be the third film in my John Carpenter mini-marathon. I watched "Halloween" yesterday with my son Benjamin, and he insisted on seeing the sequel. I could hardly refuse him, could I?

I vaguely remember watching the first seven Halloween films in the early 2000's. I rented them from Lovefilm, a company which which was later purchased by Amazon. I watched all seven films in quick succession, and I remember them getting worse from film to film. The only films that I later bought on DVD were the first two films, although I haven't watched the second film in the last 12 years (since starting my blog).

"Halloween 2" begins immediately after the events of the first film, so it's still 31st October 1978. The bodies of the teenagers killed in the previous film still haven't been collected. Michael Myers is alive, despite having been shot multiple times. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital with light injuries, including a sprained leg. The killer goes to the hospital to kill her, murdering various members of the hospital staff while he searches for her. Almost the whole film takes place in the hospital.

The body count is bigger, though only slightly. In the first film five people died, plus one off camera. In this film six people are murdered, plus two off camera, and there's one accidental death. The murders are more explicit. Does that make the film better or worse? It's a matter of opinion. I can't decide.

John Carpenter wrote the screenplay for "Halloween 2", but he wasn't able to direct it because he was busy with "The Fog". The film was given to Rick Rosenthal, who'd never made any films previously. When the film was completed, John Carpenter was involved in the post-production, and he wasn't happy with some scenes, so he re-filmed them. Carpenter claims to have directed about half of the completed film, but he wasn't credited as director.

John Carpenter intended this to be the end of the Michael Myers saga. The murderer was dead, so the films were over. The studios knew a cash cow when they had one, so they carried on making Halloween films without Carpenter's involvement. That's sad. "Halloween 2" was adequate, but the following sequels were far inferior. Maybe "Halloween 2" would have been up to the quality of the first film if John Carpenter had directed the whole film from the start. We'll never know.

Success Rate:  + 8.2

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Halloween [1978] (5 Stars)

This is the second film in my John Carpenter mini-marathon. I bet you guessed what it would be. Look at the date! There's a new Halloween film in the cinemas at the moment, but I haven't bothered with it. One of my friends, whose opinions on film I greatly admire, has written badly about it. I'll wait until I can see it on a streaming service. I'm in no rush. The original is best.

"Halloween" wasn't the first slasher film. Four years earlier (in 1974) a film was made called "Black Christmas", which most people call the first slasher film. Some people name even earlier films, such as "Thirteen Women" in 1932 or "Psycho" in 1960, but these are films that we can argue about. Women get killed in these films, but it isn't until later films that the standard tropes of slasher films were defined. One of the main rules of modern slasher films is that the killer can't die. Either he escapes every time, or he has almost supernatural powers that keep him alive.

"Halloween" is the slasher film that made slasher films popular, whether it was the first or not. For years it was copied, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. It spawned a long line of sequels which didn't live up to the original.

One thing that makes "Halloween" stand out is the music. It was necessitated by the small budget, but if more money had been invested it would have spoilt the film. John Carpenter plays the music himself, a one-finger piano theme. Its simplicity makes it brilliant.

Another thing that makes the film so good is Jamie Lee Curtis as the killer's final girl. She's the one that the killer, Michael Myers, is stalking. Everyone else is just collateral damage. We don't find out until the second film why he's interested in her out of all the teenage girls in America.

So what will the third film be? Wait and see. Tomorrow isn't too long to wait, is it?

Success Rate:  + 213.4

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Christine (4 Stars)

I've decided to watch a mini-marathon of John Carpenter's films, three films over the next three days. The first film on my list is "Christine". I admit it, the photo that I've put at the top of this post is clickbait. Christine Nguyen doesn't appear in the film, but whenever I hear the name Christine I think of her. She was born in Vietnam, but she's as American as grandma's apple pie. She even likes that funny game that the Americans call football.

The Christine in the film is a car, a 1957 Plymouth Fury. It came off a production line, but it was different to all the other cars; it was sentient. Those who own the car are subtly influenced by her and become obsessed with her.

In 1978 the awkward teenager Arnie Cunningham sees the car on sale and immediately decides to buy her. The owner tells him that the car's name is Christine, as if it's the most natural thing in the world for a car to have a name. I've had six cars in my life, and I've never given any of them names. Well, that's not quite true. I called my second car Puffing Bluey. That's because it was a large car, a Peugeot 505, with a relatively small engine. It couldn't drive faster than 50 mph uphill.

This is Christine. She looks good, but I prefer the other Christine.

Arnie's parents don't want him to park the car on their drive, so he keeps it – I mean her – in a garage where he has a part time, after-school job. He's often bullied by three other boys. One night they break into the garage and smash Christine. Surprisingly, she repairs herself in front of Arnie's eyes. At night she goes out, driverless, and hunts down the three boys. She kills them all.

Killing bullies is a borderline case. We might say murder is bad while thinking to ourselves that they deserved it. But Christine's murderous intentions don't stop there. She attempts to kill Arnie's girlfriend Leigh out of jealousy. Christine won't share Arnie with anyone else.

This doesn't seem to bother Arnie. A normal 17-year-old boy would want a girlfriend more than anything else, but the most important girl in Arnie's life is Christine. He's glad when Leigh dumps him. It gives him more time to spend with Christine.

This is a ridiculously camp story, but it works well. It's a guilty pleasure, not a masterpiece like "Dark Star" or "Assault on Precinct 13", but it's fun to watch. The film is based on a novel by Stephen King. It seems out of character for him. His stories are usually more believable. Maybe I should check out the novel. It's possible that it's less camp than the film.

Success Rate:  + 0.1

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The Fog (4 Stars)

This is a low budget film made by John Carpenter in 1980. I'm a big fan of John Carpenter's early films, so it's strange that I've waited so long before watching it again. I don't remember exactly when I last watched it, because it was before September 2010. My blog doesn't lie.

The film takes place in the fictional town of Antonio Bay on the west coast of America. On 21st April 1880 the town was due to be founded. A group of lepers arrived on the coast with a large amount of gold and requested that they could set up a colony on the outskirts of the new town. The founding fathers didn't want lepers anywhere near their town, so they sank the ship and stole the gold.

100 years have passed. On 21st April 1980 the small town wants to celebrate its anniversary. Shortly after midnight a thick fog appears on the sea, and a large ship is visible. The only other ship on the water is boarded, and its sailors are killed. The rest of the day is peaceful, but while the anniversary celebrations are taking place in the evening there's a power cut. Thick fog returns and covers the town. The undead sailors from the 19th Century come out of the fog and murder the descendants of the founding fathers.

It's a simple supernatural tale of revenge, but it's very effective. The low budget was a necessity for John Carpenter, but it's the film's biggest asset. The simplicity of the filming makes the terror stronger. Admittedly, the film starts very slowly, but once the action begins it's terrifying.

"The Fog" has the style of a slasher movie, except that it isn't one serial killer, it's a group of killers. As I wrote in my review of "Halloween", "Slasher films typically adhere to a specific formula: a past wrongful action causes severe trauma that is reinforced by a commemoration or anniversary that reactivates or re-inspires the killer".

Success Rate:  + 17.4

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Halloween [1978] (5 Stars)

My regular readers know that I'm forgetful. When I watched "Halloween" three years ago I suggested that I would make it a new tradition to watch it every year on October 31st. Today I finally remembered it. I'll try to make it a regular feature every year on this date, but I'm ashamed to promise in case I forget it again.

"Halloween" wasn't the first film about a seemingly unkillable serial killer who attacks random victims, but it set the pattern for all subsequent movies. To quote Wikipedia, "Slasher films typically adhere to a specific formula: a past wrongful action causes severe trauma that is reinforced by a commemoration or anniversary that reactivates or re-inspires the killer".

There's nothing wrong with slasher films having the same structure. It's not even wrong that they should be predictable. All that matters is that they should be full of suspense and make the viewer afraid. Some films do it better than others. "Halloween" is a classic, and none of its sequels live up to it.

Success Rate:  + 213.4

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Dark Star (5 Stars)

After watching "Assault on Precinct 13" last week I thought it would be a good idea to watch "Dark Star" again. As I said in my post, the three films "Dark Star", "Assault on Precinct 13" and "Halloween" build a minimalist trilogy.

This film has the smallest budget of John Carpenter's films, an estimated $60,000. It was barely shown in cinemas, and it received little attention. John Carpenter claimed that it was mostly shown in empty cinemas. People didn't know what to make of it. It wasn't until it was released on video in the 1980's that it developed a cult following. It's a film that fans love but make fun of anyway.

At an unspecified time in the future, a space ship called Dark Star has been sent into deep space to prepare for human colonisation. If a planet is found that's suitable for colonisation, nearby planets deemed unstable are destroyed with thermostellar bombs. The crew of five has been away from Earth for 20 years. There's a 10 year delay before messages to Earth are answered.

The ship's captain was killed when there was an electrical malfunction behind his seat. The remaining four crew members request an improvement to the ship's safety, but the request is denied because of budget cutbacks on Earth. Now they just have to hope they'll survive.

This is where the crew members sleep. What a dump!

The crew have adopted an alien as a pet. It's friendly but playful. Too playful.

Three of the crew members, Doolittle, Pinback and Boiler, enjoy their chicken dinner.

The fourth remaining crew member, Talby, spends most of his time alone looking at the stars since the captain died.

"Dark Star" has been called a parody of "2001: A Space Odyssey". I don't know whether that was John Carpenter's intention, but I see a similarity between the two films. A magnetic storm causes a malfunction in the laser that triggers the bomb launches. The bombs are smart bombs with an inbuilt artificial intelligence. When a bomb is triggered by accident, the bomb argues with the crew about whether it's allowed to detonate or not.

The film is simple, but it's very well written. 20 years ago I used to consider it my favourite film. That was before I bought my first DVD player in 2003. Since then I've watched a lot more films. Maybe I should have included it in my top 100 list. I'm not sure.

The remastered Blu-ray is better quality than the DVD, but don't expect any miracles. It's an old film made with a small budget, and the source tapes are poor quality. The Blu-ray offers the best possible, which is still slightly blurred in places.

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Assault on Precinct 13 (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #52

John Carpenter's first three films form a minimalist trilogy. They're three different genres, but they share the same creative quality: they're all very well written, despite their low budget. None of them attempt to hide their low budget.

"Dark Star" (1974) is a science fiction film.

"Assault on Precinct 13" (1976) is an action film.

"Halloween" (1978) is a horror film. 

Of the three films, "Halloween" is the best known, and it's rightly considered a classic. However, it shouldn't be considered by itself, it should be watched together with the other two films.

I enjoy all three films. At a certain point in my life I called "Dark Star" my favourite film. Today I prefer "Assault on Precinct 13". Out of the three films it's the one I watch the most often, although I think I've been unfairly ignoring "Dark Star" for the last 10 years.

I've described the plot in detail in past reviews, so I'll keep it brief here. A police station is due for closure, so its phone and electricity are cut off in its final night. A man seeks refuge in the station after killing a gang member. The gang assaults the police station to get him. Most of the police officers are killed in the initial attack. The station can only be protected with the help of prisoners taken out of the police cells.

It's the fascinating collaboration of good and bad men that gives the film its atmosphere. Lieutenant Ethan Bishop and the convicted murderer Napoleon Wilson become friends as they fight side by side.

There are two questions left open in the film. It can't be accidental, because both of them are mentioned several times. It's Lieutenant Bishop's first day back on the job. Why? Was he sick? Was he suspended? We're never told.

Napoleon is Wilson's nickname. His real name isn't stated. Two policemen ask him why he's called Napoleon. Both times he says he'll answer later. Once more, we're never told the answer.

I don't usually talk about film music, but in this case I really must make an exception. The score is brilliant, probably the best film music I've ever heard. It's played by John Carpenter himself, because he didn't have enough money to hire a professional composer. The music is slow and repetitive, played on a synthesizer. My assumption, and I don't mean this as an insult, is that it was played slowly due to John Carpenter's lack of skill as a musician. It's the sort of melody that can be played with a single finger. The result is stunning.

Incidentally, John Carpenter also composed and played the music for "Dark Star" and "Halloween".

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On a different matter, I've decide to daisy-chain the posts in my top 100 films list. The film's header links to the previous film in the list. I'll add links to my previous posts, when I have the time. Be patient. I have to edit 48 of my old posts, so I can't do it immediately. If you're reading this post a month from now, I'll hopefully have finished the job.

Christine (4 Stars)

This was a gap in my film education. Today is the first time I've seen "Christine". I've wanted to watch it for years, but somehow I kept putting it off. How could I possibly have delayed watching one of John Carpenter's early films? It's based on a Stephen King novel, so it has to be good!

In 1957 a red Plymouth car was built by Chrysler in Detroit. Yes, many cars were made, but this one was different. It had a mind of its own. It slammed its hood shut on the hand of a worker inspecting the motor, and then it trapped another worker who sat inside it.

Fast forward 21 years to 1978. Arnie Cunningham is an awkward teenager who suffers from having strict parents. He sees a car for sale in an overgrown garden. It's the red Plymouth again, but it's battered and in a bad state. Against the advice of his best friend Dennis he pays $250 for the car. It belonged to a man who recently died, and his brother tells him the car's name is Christine. Supposedly the owner was obsessed with the car and loved it more than anything else, even more than his wife and daughter, both of whom died in the car.

Arnie seems to be caught up in the same obsession. He neglects Dennis and his other friends for weeks while he repairs the car. Finally it looks as good as new, but it's not just the car that's changed. Arnie no longer wears spectacles, and he's brimming with self confidence. He's dating Leigh, the most beautiful girl in school. He tries to make out with her in the car, but she's afraid of it. She senses that something is wrong.

Soon we see that Christine can drive by herself. She hunts down the boys who bully Arnie and kills them. She can also repair herself. She can slam into other cars, then look perfect again within minutes. Arnie loves Christine, but Christine also loves Arnie.

The plot sounds ridiculous on paper, but it's a mark of a good director that while the film is running I never questioned it. I was even cheering for Christine when she was killing the bad boys. They got what they deserved.

The film doesn't explain how Christine came to be a sentient being. It just happens. I wonder if Stephen King's novel is more explicit on the subject. It's happened in other cases that his exposition is omitted from a film to improve the pacing. I've only read about half a dozen of Stephen King's books. Maybe I should read more.

Success Rate:  + 0.1

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Halloween [1978] (5 Stars)

In my last review I said that I would make it a tradition to watch this film every year on October 31st. I couldn't wait that long. Films of this brilliance deserve to be watched more often.

"Halloween" is a masterpiece of suspense. The body count is relatively low (two deaths in the introductory scenes and only three deaths in the main body of the film), but it's still one of the most terrifying films ever made.

Maybe I should add another few slasher films to my to-watch list. It might be a good idea, but it's better I don't. I already have more than 60 films stacked up in my room that I want to watch soon. I should be working my way through my list rather than adding to it. That should have been one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2019.

The combination of a small budget and big box office success have given it the highest success rating of the films I've reviewed so far.

Success Rate:  + 213.4

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Halloween [1978] (5 Stars)

This is a good film to end the month of October. Maybe I should even make it a tradition to watch it every year on this date. It could make up for all the years I've ignored the film and left it gathering dust on my shelf.

John Carpenter has made a lot of good films, but in my opinion he made three films of such brilliance that they deserve to be remembered forever. They were the first three films of his career: "Dark Star" (1974), "Assault on Precinct 13" (1976) and "Halloween" (1978). These films build a trilogy of low-budget minimalist masterpieces. I even included "Assault on Precinct 13" in my list of 30 films to watch before you die.

I should have watched this film before watching the new Halloween film on Monday. That would have prepared me better. I made a mistake in my review. I said that it continued from the first Halloween film, so it's effectively "Halloween 2b". That's incorrect. Michael Myers escaped at the end of this film, so he couldn't be arrested. He was badly injured (and presumed dead) at the end of "Halloween 2", which also takes place in 1978, so that's when he must have been arrested and sent to a psychiatric ward. That makes the new film "Halloween 3b".

It's amazing how saving money could make the film so powerful. John Carpenter composed a very simple melody himself because he didn't have enough money to hire a professional musician. The simple tapping on a piano, occasionally accompanied by an electric organ, is what "Halloween" has become most remembered for. The new film copies this melody in part, but it would have been better if it had used the original melody throughout.

Here are a few words about the film's plot for the 0.1% of my readers who have never seen this film. I hope the percentage will drop to 0.0% after they've read this review.

The opening scenes take place on 31st October 1963 in Haddonfield, Illinois. Six-year-old Michael Myers kills his teenage sister Judith who was trying to make out with her boyfriend when she should have been babysitting. He's arrested and sent to a psychiatric hospital. 15 years later he escapes, the day before Halloween, and he returns to his family home which has been standing empty ever since.

Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael's doctor at the hospital, understands him well enough to know he'll return to his home. He travels to Haddonfield and warns the sheriff, who doesn't believe him.

Michael sees Laurie Strode, presumably aged 17, come to the house and leave a key under the mat. Her father is a real estate agent who wants to sell the house. After this he stalks Laurie and her friends. The following day, 31st October 1978, he kills Laurie's friends while they're babysitting, leaving Laurie till last.

One thing that makes this film interesting is the hint of sexual tension. Michael kills his sister and the babysitters after seeing them naked. This isn't expounded on in the film, it's left up to the viewer's imagination. It's a common sexual dilemma for religious men. They think that sexual thoughts are evil, so when a woman sexually arouses them she has to be punished. This attitude has become socially acceptable in many parts of the world. In Iran it's required that women cover their heads because hair is sexually provocative to the frustrated men around them. If a woman uncovers her head she's punished by being whipped, or worse.

Ever since "Halloween" it's been a standard trope of slasher films that the killer has one special victim in sight that he wants to kill, but he leaves her until last. It's Sidney Prescott in "Scream" and Julie James in "I know what you did last summer". If the film has sequels the special victim survives from film to film while the dead bodies pile up around her. In the Halloween films the special victim is Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. (One of the weaknesses of the sequels was that she was missing from the cast). Why did Michael Myers pick her? There are two possible reasons. The first is that she was just unlucky that he saw her first after entering his old home. The second reason, the one I prefer, is that she was the most unsexual of all the girls he saw walking past his home. He spontaneously decided to kill the sluts who aroused him, but Laurie was to be the virginal sacrifice as his crowning achievement.

Success Rate:  + 213.4

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Big Trouble in Little China (5 Stars)

All Jack Burton wanted to do was pick up a pretty girl that he met at the airport, but he got involved in a battle between good and evil involving rival gangs and an immortal Chinese warlord. The film is pure chaos, but it's great fun. If ever a film has a right to be called a cult film, this is it. It was a box office flop when it was released in 1986, but it's loved by fans today who speak about its brilliance in hushed tones.

At the time of writing this review there hasn't been a Blu-ray release of this film in England, but the Region B German Blu-ray can be played without problems.

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Assault on Precinct 13 (5 Stars)

This is, quite simply, one of the best films ever made. The film's premise is simple: a police station is under siege from an anonymous gang. The way the story leads up to the siege is an example of a perfect screenplay: the ice cream van, the father and daughter, the gang riding the streets, the police station, the bus driving prisoners to death row. All these elements seem random and unrelated, but they're woven together to provide a firm foundation for the rest of the film.

For the last 13 years I've been in possession of a somewhat fuzzy DVD. When I watched the film two months ago the picture quality got on my nerves. I did a little research and found that the 2012 Blu-ray release is highly praised. I bought it and watched it today. The remastering is wonderful. I'm amazed that the picture has been cleaned up to such an extent. The studio has put in a lot of work to save this valuable film.

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Assault on Precinct 13 (5 Stars)

I can usually remember when I first saw my favourite films. Even if I can't remember where I first saw them, I can say approximately what year it was. This is an exception. Did I see it in the 1980's, the 1990's or the 2000's? I have no idea. The only thing I can say to narrow it down is that I bought the DVD that I watched today on 3rd March 2005. I have an infallible record of when I bought films from Amazon. Unfortunately, I didn't buy all my films from Amazon. I bought a lot of DVDs from stores in Birmingham, such as Virgin, HMV and Zavvi. I didn't keep my receipts. I threw them away after the first time I watched the films and knew that the discs were okay.

If I had to guess, I'd say I first watched "Assault on Precinct 13" between 1997 and 2003 on television. It impressed me immediately. I believe that for a short while I called it my favourite film. It's not so high in my list now, but I still include it in my list of 30 films to watch before you die. If you're one of the few people who still hasn't seen it, I can't recommend it highly enough. Just don't get it mixed up with the poor quality 2005 remake.

The film was made in 1976 with a budget of less than $100,000 which was a small amount even for the time. When it was released it was hardly noticed, but it's gained high critical acclaim over the years. It has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, to which my reaction is "Why not more?" The film is so simple, but it's perfect in its simplicity.

The film takes place in Los Angeles. 12-year-old Kathy is shot by a gang member when she's buying an ice cream. Her father manages to shoot the man in revenge. God bless America! God bless guns! He flees from the other gang members into a nearby police station. What he doesn't know is that the police station has already closed. There is just a lieutenant and two secretaries waiting for everything to be cleared out the next day.

A bus passing through deposits three prisoners in the cells while waiting for a doctor. But then the gang arrives, wanting to kill the girl's father in revenge. It's a big attack, at least 30 gang members, maybe 50. The police lieutenant can't hold them off by himself, so he gives the prisoners guns and asks them for help.

I can't fault the film. None of the actors are famous, and some of them made hardly any other films, but they all put on excellent performances. For instance, Kim Richardson, the child actress who played Kathy, is still an actress and has progressed to playing minor roles in films like "Sharknado 3". That's hardly an outstanding career, but she was in the right place at the right time and was simply perfect in this film.

This is probably the best action film of the 1970's -- I'm willing to argue with everyone who says differently -- and it's definitely the best low budget film ever made.

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