Brief thoughts on Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) NYFF 2021

 

I find it funny that a number of younger film fans I know love John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 but they haven’t seen Rio Lobo the film it was based on. Oh how cinema viewing has changed over the world. I say this because I find it odd in a day when most things are at your finger tips people aren’t watching the films that influenced our cinema heroes while back in my day we seemed to search them out.

No matter, this is not supposed to be a cranky old man piece but a pointer toward John Carpenter’s classic film.

The basic plot of the film is stereotypical cinema. In a near abandoned precinct house a woefully small contingent number of cops is attacked by an army of bad guys. Mayhem ensues.

Yea, we’ve been here any number of times before, as I said it’s a remake of Rio Bravo, which Howard hawks remade as El Dorado and Rio Lobo. And that’s not to mention that Carpenter riffed on Night of the Living Dead’s siege setting. However Carpenter spices things up throwing in twists, his patented music and his knack for suspense to make the film something truly special. One can see how this film begat Escape From New York and Big Trouble in Little China.  You also understand how this film started to get him noticed and how he started to get writing jobs in Hollywood.

The film is a stunner and you understand how many filmmakers were influenced by the film- especially if they ever saw it on a big screen. I mention the big screen because the film plays very different than on a small screen. Watching Assault on a big screen is a better experience if only because you feel the isolation more acutely. There is no distraction, there is only the sound and image and it works its way into your brain. I never cared for the film until I saw it big.

And since the film is playing at the New York Film Festival you can see it big. If you’ve never seen the film or never seen it on a big screen I highly recommend you make the time and do so when the film plays NYFF.

Nate Hood's Quaratine Quapsule's # 4 Eyes of Laura Mars [1978] ★★★½

If Italian giallo films were originally inspired by American crime pulp and weird fiction, it stands to reason that eventually Hollywood would reciprocate and attempt to create their own. Though early attempts like Alan J. Pakula’s Klute (1971) mimicked the paranoid claustrophobia and iciness of their Italian forefathers, it would take Irvin Kershner’s Eyes of Laura Mars to properly emulate their surreal sense of the paranormal and unexplainable.

Case in point, the film’s driving plot device involves the psychic visions of controversial fashion photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) where she witnesses the slaughter of her friends from the murderer’s eyes. At no point does the film try and explain how or why Laura has these visions. Why should it? From the first moment we see Laura in bed surrounded by wall-sized mirrors, we know that this is a film about artifice, identity, and the lies people tell to justify themselves to others. Laura literally creates her own reality with her camera, one she can control to the finest detail. Her psychic visions are the tool through which this reality is interrogated and shattered; to try and rationalize them would miss the point and transform the film into cheap hoodoo horror.

Originally written by John Carpenter, the film attempts bold statements about the effects violent and sexual art have on society when the serial killer haunting Laura’s visions beings reenacting her lurid photoshoots populated by brutalized naked women and murdered men. Laura’s claim that her art reveals the ugliness of murder and sexual violence instead of merely exploiting it for shock value rings hollow when bodies literally start piling up.

But there’s a curious lack of thematic follow through as the film becomes a more typical whodunnit with a twist ending. Carpenter’s script was so drastically reworked by the studio he later called it “shat upon,” leaving one to wonder if the original version leaned more into the sex/violence angle. (This would’ve been typical for Carpenter who rarely lost focus on the overarching ideas in his own films even at their most madcap.)

In this absence of thematic consistency Kershner turns the film into an exercise of stylistic excess—grotesque photoshoot montages, creepy first-person tracking shots, thrilling chase sequences. This, too, does justice to giallo. Remember, for every Argento masterpiece there were dozens of giallo that had little interest in being anything more than shocking and morbidly beautiful.

The Puppet Man (2016) Brooklyn Horror Festival.

Looking and sounding like a John Carpenter film from the 1970's, thanks to a score composed by the man himself, this film about four friends who wander into a deserted bar and meet the title character who shows up to meet bad people.

A neon soaked horror gem the film feels very much like a Carpenter film with just a touch of Tarantino with it's use of a pop song. There is a reason this film has been kicking around any number of film festivals which is its one of the best horror shorts in years. (The New York Film Festival should have run this as part of their Genre collection).

An absolute must see

THE PUPPET MAN plays at noon today as part of the Nightmare Fuel collection of shorts at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. For tickets and more information go here.

The unheralded John Carpenter at the Brooklyn Academy of Music

John Carpenter: Master of Fear from BAM on Vimeo.

BAM's John Carpenter series starts tonight. It was supposed to start with Carpenter sitting down for a chat at the Opera House, but he had to cancel due to illness (though it's canceled I'm told they are trying to reschedule).

I was going to write up all of the films for Unseen but I kind of think that isn't the best way to do things. You all know about HALLOWEEN and THE THING and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and a bunch of the others but there are a ton of other films you probably don't know about. Or even if you do know about them you may not think they are worth your time seeing them.

Well the are. All of Carpenter's films are worth seeing for one reason or another.

In order to steer you to some films you may not thought of I'm going to do a piece  talking about a few in brief. I should probably do full reviews for each but if I did the pieces would run possibly too close to the screening for you to get tickets In order to prevent that I'm going to do one piece here and now and let you get tickets before the screenings sell out.

DARK STAR was Carpenter's first film and it changed film forever. Made with Dan O'Bannen who also stars, the film tells the story of  the space ship Dark Star which goes around destroying unstable planets and suns. The trouble is the crew has been out there way too long A wickedly cool ultra low budget film this is the film that effectively is responsible for everything that followed Jodorwowsky's Dune to Alien and onward. That's not hyperbole since if this film didn't exist Dune wouldn't have gone into production and brought together all the minds that  change films. Yea Carpenter didn't work on Dune but he worked on this film with O'Bannen who did....then again Carpenter went off and did something called Halloween so you see this film changed everything. Its clunky and cheesy and often funny for the wrong reasons but its ahell of a lot of fun.

IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS makes no sense. It a hellish trip into the mind of a deranged individual and  by the end you won't know which way is up. I have no idea if its a good movie, I mean pieces don't work, but the fucking thing hangs with you forever and it becomes like a stain on your soul. One of the best films Carpenter ever made because it's so out there.

MEMOIRS OF THE INVISIBLE MAN was a big budget flop. It has Chevy Chase as man who is rendered invisible when a scientific experiment goes horribly wrong. This sets the government after him. Part science fiction, part thriller, part comedy this is probably the big WTF film of Carpenter's career. It kind of fits in with all he did but its a big budget seeming A list project that doesn't completely work. WHile not for all tastes this is an okay film that should have been better. I seem to remember the studio being involved with it to the point its one of the projects with too many cooks spoiling the broth. Its worth seeing for the adventurous because there are some great moments in it and you realize what might have happened if Carpenter had done more of these films.

PRINCE OF DARKNESS is strange little film.Some people have argued that it's Carpenters best film and a hidden masterpiece. I don't think so. I think it has great mood and sense of place and can be damn creepy- however I think there are some gaps in the plotting that derail it.  The film concerns an scientific examination of a cylinder of turbulent glowing green material found in the sub-basement of a church in the run down part of town. There is something weird about it and its suspected that its really "the devil" or what passes for pure evil kept in check by the church above- or something. As I said it makes little sense but where IN THE MOUTH went balls to the wall nutsy fagin PRINCE is kind of restrained and is tto tied to a narrative to wholly work. My reservations aside it's Carpenter must see since when it works it one of his best films.

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is a remake of the classic story about these blonde geniuses all born after a particular incident where a whole town fell asleep and many of the women woke up pregnant. Of course the kids are evil and its up to Christopher Reeve to stop them before they can take over the world. While not as good as the source novel or the original film version, this is still a damn fine thriller with some wonderfully ghoulish touches such as people dying when they fall asleep grilling or driving. As good as the film is, and it is an unfairly forgotten gem,, the film probably would have been better in black and white- but that's just me,

CHRISTINE is an adaption of Stephen Kings killer car story. One of the best films Carpenter has done the film seems to have been forgotten by most people. I have no idea why since the film has chills and style to burn. Carpenters use of classic rock and roll on the soundtrack is as good as it gets. If you've never seen it you must go.

GHOSTS OF MARS is a mess.  I can't lie. This weird ass kind of cross between ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and Mario Bava's PLANET OF VAMPIRES  and a few other films doesn't quite work. I know some people will argue that the film is the one Carpenter film you can skip, and they maybe right, but at the same time there are moments where it works. I think the real problem with the film is it's such a collection of bits from other films that it never finds its own voice .This one is probably for Carpenter completeists.

For tickets and more information go to the BAM website.

Its all happening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music: John Carpenter, BAM Kids Film Fest, John Korty and widescreen black and white

While most people are watching the Super Bowl we at Unseen Films are getting ready to gorge ourselves on John Carpenter films. Starting Thursday the Brooklyn Academy of Music is doing a retrospective of his films. All of the biggies are there- HALLOWEEN, THE THING, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, ESCAPE FROM NY as well as a lot of the off the radar ones GHOST OF MARS, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. The series is timed to coincide with the release of a CD of Carpenters music so the series also includes some films he feels are influential to his way of scoring a movie (STRAW DOGS, FORBIDDEN PLANET and SORCERER)

I’m going to see Carpenter talk on Thursday. We’re also going to run some reviews of some of the films in the series. I’m hoping to get reviews up of most of the lesser films in the series as well as pieces on Carpenters choices for influences. I’m not sure how much we’ll get done- but we’re going to give it a go.

For tickets and more information on the whole series check out the retrospectives web page which can be found here.
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Not only does BAM have John Carpenter up it’s sleeve- next weekend is the annual KIDS FILM FEST. Once again Unseen will be there. I’m looking to catch a bunch of stuff so look reports.

This year the festival is focused more on short film collections over features, but there are a few features such as PIM AND POM THE BIG ADVENTURE or ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL Since I haven’t really seen any of the selection yet I don’t know what to recommend, however FARTHER AND FASTER- does have THE DAM KEEPER in it and its inclusion instantly makes it a must see collection. (DAM KEEPER as some of you know was on my Best of the Best 2014-and it's nominated for an Oscar which, hopefully, it will win)

For tickets and more information go to the festivals web page.
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While we're talking about BAM you should also be aware that they will be running a series on the films of John Korty including the truly unique must see film TWICE UPON A TIME (My review is here). For more details on the series which runs February 24-26 go here
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The people at BAM have just announced the BLACK AND WHITE 'SCOPE:AMERICAN CINEMA the first part of two looking at widescreen black and white films. Its a killer series that includes THE HUSTLER, THE LONGEST DAY, THE ELEPHANT MAN , CHINA GATE and others. The series runs February 27 to March 19. I'll have more closer to time, but if you want to get a head start go to the series page here. (Part 2 on world cinema is coming in June)