| The
second movie directed by John Carpenter immediately caught the audience’s
eye. A lover of westerns and classic movies, the maker of Carthage pays
homage to Rio Bravo (he also did the editing, signing
under the pseudonym of John T. Chance, name of the character played by
John Wayne in Howard Hawks’ legendary masterpiece) in this story
about a group of very different people whom, locked in a ramshackle police
precinct about to close down, have to defend themselves against assault
by a gang of crooks. Claustrophobic, intelligent and concise (remember
the murder of the girl with the ice cream which sets the whole thing in
motion), with this movie Carpenter (who also produced it and composed
the music) marked the direction of his footsteps in the field of cinema. |
