Whether you're a John Carpenter fan or not, this film is brilliant. I first saw it as a teenager (should I be admitting that?) and thought it was the coolest films I had seen. As far as I was concerned it was in the same bracket as 'The Warriors'. I agree this version is more believable with the Police Station being besieged by a ruthless gang in an area where the law is being overrun, rather than the remake's version (if this is your cup of tea, get 'The Negotiator' with Sam Jackson - same premise but much better film). As with the likes of Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York etc. the film benefits from a great score which simply notches up the tension levels. Watched it last year and it does look dated but still loved it.

A truly excellent little film. Whilst the budget is obviously meagre, Carpenters knack for creating such strong atmosphere and suspense shines through the majority of the films duration, showing that he can make the maximum impact with the minimum of fuss. The obviously Howard Hawks inspired elements of the film never attributes to a loss of Carpenters own distinct visual style. He shows the early signs of his future directorial development, especially when making the faceless criminals laying siege on the Police station seem weirdly like a supernatural force. Carpenters ultra cool, and Memorable synth score underpins the majority of the slow build-up of tension.

There was a time when John Carpenter was the master of suspense, when his movies did not have direct to DVD written all over them. This is one of the classics, with it's western set-up, brilliant music score, this is a masterclass in low budget film making. as a gang of psycho's lay siege to Precinct 13. The suspense is brilliantly sustained, and the silenced shoot-out is text book in iconic movie moments. Of course the movie looks dated, and for anybody looking for high octane action will be disapponted. But for a master class in low budget film making this movie is hard to beat. These reasons make this movie an all time classic!