In a fleet and ferocious piece of genre craftsmanship, John Carpenter delivered a stark homage to Howard Hawks’ immortal western Rio Bravo in this white-hot night of hate action-thriller about a policeman coming under attack from a horde of brutal LA gang members whilst attempting to defend a defunct police station.

Police officer Bishop (Austin Stoker) is a cop with a war on his hands. When he is left in charge of Precinct 13 - a run-down police station in an out-of-the-way neighborhood - on its last day before closure, he isn't prepared for the onslaught of a murderous street gang known as Street Thunder whom have recently come into the possession of an enormous arsenal of guns. Finding himself trapped in the precinct with a pair of secretaries, a few civilians and a handful of prisoners – holding out for a rescue and unable to call for help - he and his fellow prisoners band together to barricade themselves in and hold the bandits at bay. But as the casualties mount and the supplies run low, they must choose between a daring escape attempt, a fiery offensive, or certain death.

Augmented by Carpenter’s supremely ominous and futuristic electronic score - with its inventive ferris-wheel electronic drums, death-march keyboard melody and a ghostly, warbly wail – its sound proved influential to countless electronic music enthusiasts and filmmakers alike. Regarded now as one of the best exploitation films of the 1970s, this edge-of-your-seat thriller put Carpenter on the map as an imaginative, creative force to be reckoned with.

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