Directed by John Carpenter • 1976 • United States
Starring Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer
John Carpenter’s lean, mean second feature puts a gritty exploitation spin on Howard Hawks’s classic western RIO BRAVO, transposing the story to a soon-to-be-closed LA police station where a group of officers and convicts find themselves under siege by a marauding streets gang who have taken a blood oath to kill someone trapped inside. The baddies are portrayed as zombielike killing-machines straight out of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD; the notorious ice-cream truck scene is still a shocker; and Carpenter keeps the tension mounting with his pulse-pounding synth score.
Up Next in Directed by John Carpenter
-
Escape from New York
Directed by John Carpenter • 1981 • United States
Starring Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Isaac HayesIt’s the year 1997 and the dystopian hellscape of Manhattan has been turned into a maximum security prison. When the U.S. president’s plane is hijacked and crash lands on the island, it’s up to ha...
-
Christine
Directed by John Carpenter • 1983 • United States
Starring Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra PaulA high-school nerd’s (Keith Gordon) possessive and possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury unleashes its jealousy in a diabolical killing rampage in this sleek horror joyride from genre master John Carpe...
-
Starman
Directed by John Carpenter • 1984 • United States
Starring Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin SmithStepping outside the realm of horror-thrillers, director John Carpenter deftly blends science fiction and romance in this celestial odyssey. Jeff Bridges stars as an innocent alien who jour...
