Assault on the 13th plot (film, 1976)

The action takes place on Saturday in Anderson, teeming with ghetto crime in southern Los Angeles . Shortly before this, members of a local gang known as the “Street Thunderstorm” stole a large amount of weapons from the state arsenal. At 3 o’clock in the morning, a team of armed officers from the Los Angeles Police Department ambushes and shoots six gang members. After that, the four gang leaders swear an oath on blood to avenge the police and residents of Los Angeles, regardless of the victims.

Meanwhile, California Road Patrol lieutenant Ethan Bishop ( ) is tasked with temporarily leading Anderson's police station until its final closure the next day. The site is located in an empty area, as the surrounding residential buildings are intended for demolition. Arriving at the station, Bishop gets acquainted with the few employees who remain there, among them the duty officer, Sergeant Cheney ( ) and two young office women, Lee ( ) and Julie ( Nancy Loomis ). At the same time, two leaders of the Storm of the Street gang, together with two helpers, were driving a car through the streets of their area with the intention of killing someone. Finally, one of the leaders notices and in cold blood first kills a little girl with ice cream ( Kim Richards ), and then the ice cream man in the van . Lawson ( Martin West ), the girl’s father, who saw her murder from a pay phone, rushes in a car in pursuit of bandits with a revolver found in the ice cream parlor and eventually manages to shoot the daughter’s killer. After that, three bandits chase Lawson, forcing him to take refuge in the 13th police station. Lawson is so seriously traumatized by the events that he loses his ability to move independently and literally cannot tell Bishop and Cheney what happened to him. He is placed in one of the rooms so that he wakes up.

At the same time, a bus with three inmates, Napoleon Wilson ( ), who is being transferred to death row, by Wells ( Tony Burton ) and Codell, leaves a Los Angeles jail in Sonora prison. Starker ( Charles Cyfers ), who manages the transport of prisoners, orders a police station to go to the nearest police station to provide emergency medical care to seriously ill Codell, who could infect a convoy involving three people. The bus pulls up to the 13th section, where prisoners are placed in cells. At the moment when Starker is trying to call a doctor, the telephone connection is disconnected. Starker takes the prisoners outside to put them back on the bus, and at that moment the gang surrounding the section opens intense fire, killing Cheney, who went out into the street in a few minutes, to use the walkie-talkie in the patrol car, the bus driver, Kodell, Starker and two escorts . Wilson manages to hide behind the body of Starker, who is chained to a handcuff, and crawl back to the station. Bishop puts Wilson and Wells back in the cells.

The bandits turn off the light in the area, again open intense fire and attempt to break into the inside of the building. Bishop releases Wells and Wilson from the cells, and the four of them, together with Lee, repel a gang attack, killing dozens of criminals, but Julie is killed in a shootout. During a lull, bandits take out corpses on a prison bus and destroy other visible traces of a shootout so as not to attract attention to the site. Bishop’s reckoning on hearing a shootout, the residents of the quarter will call the police, are not justified, since the criminals use weapons with a silencer. In addition, the police car patrolling the area cannot locate the firing site because of the vast territory from which the sound can be heard. Without waiting for support, the defenders elect Wells so that he quietly gets out of the station and calls the police. Wells manages to go through the sewer canal, get out through the hatch into the street and start the car. However, a few seconds after he pulls away, Wells is killed by a thug hiding in the back seat.

Left with virtually no ammunition, Bishop, Wilson and Lee, taking Lawson, who had never recovered, took them down to the basement, where they were going to hold the defense. From the third time, the bandits manage to enter the building of the site, simultaneously scouring the premises in search of survivors. Bishop and Wilson, having blocked themselves with a metal shield, lure the bandits into the basement, after which Bishop shoots an acetylene ball from a rifle, causing a powerful explosion, from which all the gang members who went down to the basement die. The patrolmen, circling around the building of the 13th station, do not notice anything unusual, but when drops of blood dripping on the roof instead of rain, pay attention to the body of the shot telephone operator on one of the poles. They immediately call for reinforcements and soon, the entire territory of the site is occupied by police cars. Upon seeing the arriving police, the surviving gang members scatter. During a tense scene, two armed policemen get through the smoke to the basement and find the bodies of dozens of burned and shot bandits, as well as the only survivors of Ethan, Lee, Lawson and Wilson, who, after a short pause, asks the patrolmen who came up to smoke. One of the cops is trying to handcuff Wilson, but Bishop pushes him away and heads for the exit, taking Wilson's hand.

Development

After the release of his first film, Dark Star (1974), screenwriter and director John Carpenter wrote the scripts for two more ultra-low-budget films, Eyes and Attack, which were to be financed by producers J. Stein Kaplan and Joseph Kaufman. However, the script for the movie Eyes was soon outbid by producer John Peters, who decided to make a movie on it with his then-girlfriend Barbara Streisand in the title role. As a result, the film was released in 1978 at Columbia Studios titled “The Eyes of Laura Mars ” with Faye Dunaway in the lead role ^[2] .

After the script for the movie Eyes was sold, Kaplan and Kaufman focused on Attack. As Carpenter wrote, “J. Stein Kaplan has been my friend since studying at the University of Southern California . He, in turn, knew Joseph Kaufman from Philadelphia ... In principle, it was their fathers who financed the “Attack on the 13th Section”. ” The families of these two producers created CKK Corporation to finance this film ^{[3] [4] [5]} .

Script

Carpenter wanted to make a Western in the style of Howard Hawks like Eldorado (1966) or Rio Lobo (1970), but since the budget of 100 thousand dollars did not allow this, Carpenter decided to make his own arrangement of the main points of the plot of the film Rio Bravo ( 1959) on modern conditions ^{[6] [7] [5]} .

Carpenter wrote the original version of the script entitled “Alamo at Anderson” under the pseudonym John T. Chance (the name of the protagonist of the film “Rio Bravo”), but he indicated his own name in the credits of the completed film ^[7] . The script was written in eight days ^[8] . Carpenter joked: "The script was written quickly, some would say" too fast "" ^[9] .

The script contains many references to the history of cinema and to those works that inspired this film by Carpenter, in particular, to the Westerns of Howard Hawks. For example, Lee’s character, played by , is a reference to Lee Brackett , who was one of the screenwriters of Rio Bravo ^[10] . The joke of Napoleon Wilson, who constantly asks, “Can't smoke?” Was inspired by similar cigarette jokes from many Westerns of Howard Hawks ^[6] . There are also subtle hints at the work of directors Sergio Leone and Alfred Hitchcock ^[6] . Captions indicating the day of the week and time of day were used to give the film a more documentary style ^{[6] [7]} .

Pre-Production

The film was at the pre-production stage for several months ^[7] . During this period, Carpenter selected the main cast, which consisted mainly of experienced, but relatively little-known actors. Two main roles were chosen by , who had previously played in the films “ Battle for the Planet of the Apes ” (1973) and “ Pretty Sheba ” (1975), and , who worked mainly on television and in addition to Facebook was Carpenter’s neighbor ^[9] . According to the results of the open casting, Carpenter also included Charles Cyphers and Nancy Loomis in the list of main actors ^[5] .

To work on the other side of the camera, Carpenter invited cameraman Douglas Napp, who was his student friend at the University of Southern California ^[6] , production designer Tommy Lee Wallace, and sound engineer Bill Verney ^[11] and props Craig Sterns ^[5] . Wallace recalled: “I hardly knew what kind of work it was, but he believed in me and, of course, my price was right. This was typical of John in those poor days. He sought the maximum from any talented person and from those opportunities that were at his disposal ” ^[12] .

Carpenter made storyboards of key episodes, including the scene with the ice cream machine, the death of the white leader of the gang, the efforts of Napoleon Wilson to get the keys from the guard after the siege begins, and the failed attempt to escape Wells ^{[7] [13]} .

Shooting Period

Filming began in November 1975 and was completed in 20 days, including Thanksgiving , with a budget of 100 thousand dollars ^{[6] [7] [5]} . The film was shot on a 35-mm Panavision camera in anamorphic format at a 2.35: 1 aspect ratio on Metrocolor film ^{[6] [14]} . This was Carpenter’s first experience with Panavision cameras and lenses ^[6] . Carpenter said that the peculiarity of shooting a low-budget film is that you need to use as little film as possible and stretch each scene as long as possible ^[6] .

After two weeks of filming in the pavilion, two weeks of filming in kind followed ^[7] . The interiors of the police station were filmed in the pavilions of the now defunct Producers Studios , while street filming and prison cells were filmed in the old police station in the Los Angeles district of Venice ^{[7] [9]} . The bus to Sonora was filmed on a closed section of the Los Angeles expressway system ^[7] . The first scene, in which several members of the Storm of the Street gang were shot by cops, was filmed at the University of Southern California. The gang members were students of this university, who, as Carpenter added, took great pleasure when they came up with methods of their death and drenched themselves with blood ^[6] .

Production designer Wallace recalled: “The first evening, when I looked at the footage that had been filmed in a day, which was projected onto an ordinary sheet in the producer’s miserable apartment ... My jaw dropped and sat so straight that it cast off laziness from my head. It looked like a myriad of dollars. It looked like a real movie. ” ^[15] Carpenter spoke of this film as the greatest pleasure he received as a director. ^[16]

Music

One of the hallmarks of the film was his music, written in three days by John Carpenter ^[9] and performed by Carpenter with ^[7] . The use of synthesizer sounds, electronic drums and drum machines distinguishes the music of this film from most of the movie music of that time, creating a clearly defined style of a minimalist electronic soundtrack, with which the name of Carpenter and his work will be connected in the future. In this film, music consists of two main themes: the main theme with its familiar synthesizer melody and the slower contemplative theme used in calm, subordinate scenes. In addition to two main themes, the soundtrack also includes ominous drums and simple drum compositions, often illustrating scenes showing a gang in the dark. Carpenter, who was assisted by Dan Wyman, had several synthesizers of the same type, each of which had to be turned off when it was necessary to create a new sound, and it took a lot of time ^{[6] [10]} . As Carpenter recalled: “When I wrote themes for the film ... it was done with the help of very old technologies ... It was very difficult to get the right sounds, and it took a very long time to get something very simple” ^[17] . Carpenter made from three to five separate musical fragments, which he then edited accordingly for the film ^[9] .

The main musical theme was partly inspired by both the music of Lalo Shifrin for the film Dirty Harry (1971) and the song Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin ^[18] . Consisting of a synthesizer riff supported by a drum machine, it, according to David Bernand and Miguel Mera, "is built only in textural, but not in thematic terms." A held high synthesizer note without any changes, except for internal frequency modulations, becomes the musical motive of the gang members, and arises during certain cruel events in the film. In the film, synthesizers and drum machines represent the city and the gang ^[19] .

Carpenter also uses a sad electric piano theme in scenes when Lieutenant Bishop first enters the station. It is repeated in the film during a lull during a siege, becoming essentially a musical expression of the siege as such ^[20] . Bishop whistles precisely this melody at the beginning and at the end of the film, giving it an “invisible performance from a visible source” ^[21] . Bernard and Merah noted a certain desire to show, using simple musical solutions, “a common denominator of human behavior regardless of“ tribal ”affiliation” ^[22] .

Many film critics who praised the film also admired Carpenter's music. As John Kenneth Muir noted, “Carpenter wrote great music for the film ... The result was a unique electronic sound that is still quite captivating, even after 20 years” ^{[10] [23]} . According to Dave Golder from SFX magazine, the film had “one of the most attractive musical themes in the history of cinema” ^[24] . In early 2004, Pierce Martin wrote to the NME that minimalist synthesizer music in many ways provides a tense and threatening atmosphere for this film, and its “impact after 27 years is still tangible” ^[18] .

The vocal version of the theme of the film, entitled “You Can’t Fight It,” written by producer Kenny Lynch and performed by Trinidad-based singer Jimmy Chambers , was released in the UK by Forty Pye in April 1978, but not hit the charts, and today has become a rarity. The film’s music has influenced many electronic and hip-hop artists , and its main theme has been used by artists such as Afrika Bambaataa , Tricky , and Bomb the Bass ^{[7] [25]} . The main theme of the film was reworked by Together in the 1990 rave song Hardcore Uproar , which hit the UK chart ^[26] . Despite the influence of the film’s music, with the exception of a few collections ^[7] , it was only available in underground editions until 2003, when an official release appeared on the French company Record Makers ^[27] .

Post Production

Carpenter edited the film under the pseudonym John T. Chance (that was the name of John Wayne's character in Rio Bravo ). Debra Hill was an assistant editor (her name is not indicated in the credits) ^[7] . According to Carpenter, the installation process has been reduced to a minimum. Later, he regretted that he made a mistake in one of the glues. The film was shot on a Panavision camera, which works with complete negativity, and was mounted on the apparatus, which cannot show the image completely, as a result of gluing it was inaccurate and fell into the frame, which happened with Carpenter. However, in the end, it did not matter, since, in his words, “it was so dark that no one could notice it, thank God!” ^[9]

The film's production designer Tommy Lee Wallace spoke with admiration about Carpenter's work in the post - production phase: “Carpenter asked if I could mount sound effects, to which I answered“ Of course! ”, Although I was a completely green newbie. But John took another decisive step ... he insisted that the processing of the filmed footage was the best, taking into account the available money, which at that time meant the legendary laboratory of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio . Finally, he insisted that we get the best possible sound processing, which implies the legendary Samuel Goldwin Sound . The costs of such an unorthodox approach ate a huge portion of the budget. The production manager was worried about the fact that we exploit people to pay for processing - and that was true ” ^[15] .

Although the film was called “Assault on the 13th Station,” the film takes place mainly in the building of the police station, which Bishop's subordinate sergeant calls on the radio “Section 9, Division 13”. Inaccurate name for the film was given by the distributor. Carpenter originally used the name “Alamo at Anderson” ^[7] , but at the stage of selling the painting to distributors, he briefly changed the name to “Siege” ^[3] . As a result, the film was acquired by producer and distributor . ^[3] In the post-production phase, the distributor abandoned the name Carpenter for the current title of the film. Mention in the name of the “13th section” was made in order to give it a more ominous sound ^[7] .

After the film was successful in the UK, Michael Myers from the distribution company bought the rights to rent the film in theaters of this country ^[28] . In Germany, the film was released on March 9, 1979 under the title "Night Attack" ^{[7] [29]} .

In the most scandalous scene of the film, a gang member calmly kills a young girl with an ice cream in her hand. The American Film Association has threatened to assign the film an X rating if this scene is not removed ^[30] . Then, on the advice of the distributor, Carpenter pretended to obey, removing the scene from the copy that he transferred to the Association. However, a copy of the film was received for rent, in which this scene remained untouched (such a trick was often used in low-budget films) ^{[9] [30]} . As a result, the film received an R rating from the Association ^[14] .

Initial Reception

The film premiered at the State Theater in Los Angeles on November 3, 1976 , at first receiving mixed reviews, poor distribution, and unimpressive box office results ^{[28] [31]} . Whitney Williams from Variety wrote: “Some fascinating action in the second half of the picture is interesting enough to provide the film with a place in the market for violence ... John Carpenter’s production of his own script after the first part of the prison supports the realism of the action” ^[14] . Dan O'Bannon, who, along with Carpenter, wrote the script for The Dark Star , was present at the Los Angeles premiere of Attacks. At this stage in their professional relationship, O'Bannon was envious of Carpenter's success and attended the premiere without desire. O'Bannon disgusted the film, which he told Carpenter. According to film critic Jason Zinoman, O'Bannon saw a reflection of the coldness that Carpenter showed in relation to him, in his everyday indifference to the characters in this film. This reminded him of how easy it was to end their friendship. “His contempt for people would be satisfied if he could make a film without people at all,” said O'Bannon. ^[32]

The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1977, where it received the benevolent attention of British critics ^[28] . Director George Romero , who participated in the festival with the movie Martin (1977), said: “Carpenter with his 13th plot in Cannes wiped us off the face of the earth. Starting from the stage when a little girl was killed, my roof was blown away ” ^[33] . As a result, Linda Miles ordered the film for the Edinburgh Film Festival in August 1977 ^[28] .

However, only after the film was shown at the 21st London Film Festival on December 1, 1977, the film received critical acclaim ^{[7] [34]} . Festival director Ken Vlachin described the film as follows in a festival brochure:

“John Carpenter, whose low-budget science fiction epic Dark Star is widely recognized, turned his inventive fantasy into a thriller with this first solo directorial work. The result, even despite the tiny budget and unknown actors, was simply astounding. “Attack on the 13th plot” is one of the most powerful and exciting crime thrillers from the new director for a long time. It captures the public and simply does not let go, growing to a crescendo of irrational violence, which very well reflects our fear of an unjustified attack ... This is a frightening look at the collapse of rational ideas of law and order before an irresistible attack by the forces of irrationality and death ” ^[34]

Vlachin included “Attack” in the festival section of “Action”, and considered him the best film at the London Film Festival ^{[28] [34]} . “Attack” has become one of the festival’s most well-received films, having received tremendous recognition from critics and viewers ^[7] . According to Derek Malcolm of The Guardian , the applause was "deafening." ^[31] Carpenter was delighted with praises that fell upon him ^[28] .

The extremely positive British reaction to the film has led to critical and commercial success throughout Europe. Derek Malcolm wrote in Cosmopolitan that this picture “is quickly becoming one of the cult films of this year ... His great merit is how he captures the audience and simply refuses to let it go. He exploits our fear of irrational violence and unmotivated attack, and at the same time manages to laugh at himself without prejudice to tension - and this is a very significant achievement. Carpenter was able to make a comedy that scares us to the heels. And do not think that you are laughing at her. In fact, she is laughing at you ” ^{[7] [35]} . Malcolm later wrote that he restrained himself a little in relation to the film: “It does not seem to me that we should talk endlessly about the film, partly because he will be in great danger of being overestimated, and, on the other hand, he is nothing more than great pleasure ” ^[31] . The film set a record for cinemas in Britain and was named one of the best films of the year by critics and viewers ^[7] .

After that, American critics and the public revised their assessment of the film, and today it is widely recognized as one of the best action movies of the 1970s. When shown at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1978, the film was described in the program as "... a nightmare poem that plays on our fears of irrational and uncontrolled violence" ^[36] . According to Carpenter, the British audience immediately understood and enjoyed the similarity of the film with American Westerns , while the American audience was too familiar with the Western genre to fully appreciate this film from the very beginning ^{[9] [28] [16]} .

Follow-up

Over the years, the film has been praised by critics who noted the inventiveness of John Carpenter as a director, screenwriter, editor and music writer, the stylish cameraman work of Douglas Napp, as well as the exceptional play of Austin Stoker, Darwin Jooston, Laurie Zimmer and Tony Burton.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times concluded that “it is a much more multifaceted film than Halloween , although there is nothing more complicated than fear all over. His terrible power is largely embedded in those inexplicable, almost supernatural events that you would rather meet in a horror film than in a melodrama of this kind ... If this film tells anything at all, then this is about the methods of warfare and about defense in the city. Mr. Carpenter is an extremely inventive director, whose ability to build films exclusively from action and dynamics indicates that he can become a director of the same rank as Don Siegel ” ^[37] . Jeffrey Wells of Films In Review wrote that this “skillfully dynamic and editing film is rich in Hawks -style cue exchanges and humor, and this is especially true for the clever imitation of a classic Hawks woman performed by Laurie Zimmer” ^[38] . Tom Allen and Andrew Sarris in Village Voice described the film as “one of the most stylish and lively independent films of the 1970s” ^[39] , and Alan Jones in Starburst magazine called the film “a bravura remake of Rio Bravo ” ^[40] . Dave Golder from SFX Magazine was delighted with the film, describing it as “a great bloody thriller about the siege of an abandoned police station in Los Angeles” ^[24] . John Kenneth Muir, in The Horror Films of the 1970s, called the film “a fast and cost-effective fascinating horror film ... distinguished by originality, dexterity and thrills.” ^[41] Mick Martin and Marsha Porter called the film “exciting” further noting that “this is a modern version of Howard Hawks’s Rio Bravo movie with an exceptional cast of the entire cast.” ^[42] In 2003, Entertainment Weekly 's Dalton Ross described the film as a “dense and eventful thriller” with Carpenter’s ominous music and Douglas Napp's stylish camera work орые придают этой низкобюджетной перестрелке всю мощь городского „Рио Браво“» ^[43] . Леонард Молтин также назвал картину «захватывающим триллером и современным парафразом „Рио Браво“ Говарда Хоукса», отметив, что «сценарист и режиссёр Карпентер также создал и страшную музыку для этого сенсационно успешного фильма» ^[44] .

Тим Паллейн из The Guardian охарактеризовал фильм как «поверхностный, несмотря на успешное соблюдение требований жанра» ^[45] . Брайан Линзи из Eccentric Cinema написал, что фильм «не правдоподобен ни на секунду — и тем не менее, это не мешает ему стать забавной маленькой картиной категории В в лучшей традиции драйв-инов » ^[46] . Согласно обобщённой оценке Rotten Tomatoes , «это скудная, плотная и притягательно суровая, перенесённая в новые условия версия Карпентера на тему фильма „Рио Браво“, которая стала культовой классикой экшна и одним из лучших фильмов режиссёра» ^[47] .

Awards and recognition

В 1978 году Карпентер завоевал ежегодную премию Британского института кино за «оригинальность и достижения его первых двух фильмов», «Тёмная звезда» и «Нападение на 13-й участок», на Лондонском кинофестивале 1977 года ^{[48] [49]} .

Американский институт киноискусства включил фильм в число номинантов в свой список 100 самых остросюжетных американских фильмов за 100 лет ^[50] .

Наследие и ремейки

Сегодня «Нападение на 13-й участок» оценивается многими как один из величайших и самых недооценённых боевиков 1970-х годов, а также как один из лучших, если не лучший фильм в карьере Джона Карпентера ^{[47] [51]} .

Журнал Premiere в июльском номере 1999 года включил фильм в список 50 «потерянных и глубоких» невоспетых произведений киноклассики ^[52] , написав:

«Компактный, жестокий, порочный и невероятно сильный экшн-фильм без комиков в эпизодических ролях для разрядки, без подмигиваний аудитории и без звёзд. Просто пороховая бочка, основанная на посылке (взятой отчасти из „Рио Браво“ Говарда Хоукса), что квази-террористическая группа совершает череду убийств, достигая кульминации в действии, описанном в названии. Мастерство работы Карпентера на широком экране и почти уникальный талант создания эпизодов саспенса и экшна делают „Нападение“ настолько нервным испытанием, что вам, возможно, придётся заново обить своё кресло после его домашнего просмотра» ^[53]

В 1988 году Алан Джонс из Starburst высказал мнение, что «Нападение» — это «вероятно, по-прежнему самый лучший фильм из тех, которые когда-либо сделал Карпентер» ^[40] . В 2000 году Джон Кеннет Мьюр поместил фильм на 3 место в собственном рейтинге фильмов Джона Карпентера вслед за « Нечто » (1982) и « Хэллоуином » (1978) ^[54] . В октябре 2007 году Ноэль Мюррей и Скотт Тобиас из The AV Club также поставили «Нападение» на 3-е место среди лучших фильмов Карпентера, написав, что это его «первый фильм, который „ощущается“ как подлинно карпентеровский. Являясь данью уважения вестернам Говарда Хоукса, „Нападение“ показывает тот путь, который могла бы избрать карьера Карпентера, если бы „Хэллоуин“ не стал таким хитом. На протяжении своей продолжительной карьеры Карпентер делал фильмы самых разных типов, но в дальнейшем ему не часто удавалось обращаться к таким лаконичным историям о бряцающих оружием героях и злодеях» ^[55] .

Джефф Чанг в своей книге Can't Stop Won't Stop (2005) приводит «Нападение» как один из фильмов, положивших начало жанру «городские ужасы». Чанг описывает фильм следующим образом:

«Вместо храбрых индейцев , воинов зулу и кладбищенских зомби , герои „Нападения на 13-й участок“ защищались в безлюдном полицейском участке от мародёрствующих волн тёмных, вооружённых до зубов членов банды, мстящих за своих убитых копами братьев» ^[25]

В пятом издании «Нового библиографического словаря кино» (2010) историк кино Дэвид Томсон описал фильм как «хоуксовскую ситуацию, в которой полицейский участок осаждают бандиты — экономичную, плотную, красивую и крайне возбуждающую. Фильм удовлетворяет всем амбициям Карпентера, эмоционально захватывая аудиторию и больше не отпуская» ^[56] . Мишель Ле Бланк и Колин Оделл написали, что «фильм смотрится столь же свежо сегодня, как и тогда, когда был снят; насилие фильма по-прежнему шокирует, его саундтрек по-прежнему эффективен, а актёрский текст и его подача находятся на высшем уровне — и всё это в картине с бюджетом в 100 тысяч долларов, который не удовлетворил бы даже запросы на питание средней голливудской картины. Это потому, что в фильме есть глубокое видение, которое неизменно присутствует в творчестве Карпентера, представляющем собой одно целостное мировоззрение» ^[57] .

Кинорежиссёр Эдгар Райт и актёр Саймон Пегг являются большими поклонниками «Нападения». По мнению Пегга, этот фильм «не стоит называть боевиком , потому что он появился до широкого развития фильмов такого типа. И всё же по-своему это боевик». Райт считает, что это очень «по-карпентеровски сделанный городской вестерн, где „Рио Браво“ помещён в Лос-Анджелес 1970-х годов… Кроме того, для низкобюджетного фильма он выглядит великолепно» ^[58] .

Фильм повлиял на многие боевики, которые вышли после него, установив правила жанра, получившего продолжение такими фильмами, как « Крепкий орешек » (1988) и « Матрица » (1999) ^{[27] [58]} . Журнал Variety описал вторую часть фильма « От заката до рассвета » (1996) как «выполненное в духе „Ночи живых мертвецов“ ответвление от … фильма „Нападение на 13-й участок“» ^[59] .

После «Нападения» Карпентер продолжил работу с продюсером Ирвином Яблансом над «Хэллоуином» (1978), который стал самым успешным фильмом в карьере режиссёра. В память об успехе «Нападения» в Лондоне в качестве знака своеобразной благодарности Карпентер назвал Майкла Майерса из «Хэллоуина» по имени британского дистрибьютора своей картины из компании Miracle Films . Сын Майерса Мартин воспринял такую дань уважения как «огромную честь» и «знак вечной памяти своему умершему отцу» ^[60] . Дональд Плезенс в дальнейшем сыграет главную роль в «Хэллоуине» именно потому, что его дочери были горячими поклонницами «Нападения» ^[61] . Супервайзер сценария фильма Дебра Хилл продолжит работать в качестве продюсера на последующих фильмах Карпентера ^[5] .

Фильм вдохновил французского режиссёра Флорана Эмилио Сири на создание осовремененного вольного римейка «Нападения» под названием « Осиное гнездо » (2002) ^[62] . В 2005 году на «Нападение» режиссёром Жаном-Франсуа Рише был сделан римейк с Итаном Хоуком и Лоуренсом Фишборном ^[63] . Римейк Рише получил положительные отзывы от одной части критиков как мастерски сделанный фильм категории В , однако другая часть критиков посчитала его шаблонным ^[64] , при этом многие критики выражали предпочтение изначальному «Нападение» по отношению к его римейку ^[65] . Так, Леонард Молтин описал римейк 2005 года как «жестокий римейк лаконичного, мощного фильма Джона Карпентера категории В, который добавляет различные сюжетные осложнения — и с каждым таким моментом, ещё один слой недоверия. Он хорошо сделан, но порой вызывающий смех» ^[44] .

Критики и комментаторы часто описывали «Нападение» как соединение « Рио Браво » Говарда Хоукса и « Ночь живых мертвецов » Джорджа Ромеро ^{[46] [65] [66]} . Карпентер признаёт влияние на него обоих фильмов ^{[6] [9]} .

В своей книге «Фильмы Джона Карпентера» (2000) Джон Кеннет Мьюр разбирает использование Карпентером «Рио Браво» в качестве шаблона для создания «Нападения»: «Хотя исходная посылка фильма может показаться типичной для картины 1970-х годов, по сути это был самый настоящий Карпентер — что означало, что это был самый настоящий Говард Хоукс. Самое главное значение имели не кровопролитие или экшн, а развивающаяся дружба и уважение между белым заключённым Наполеоном Уилсоном и чёрным копом, лейтенантом Бишопом… также важной данью уважения „Нападения“ режиссёру Хоуксу стала незабываемая игра актрисы Лори Зиммер в качестве „хоуксовской женщины“, то есть, женщины, которая на добро отвечает добром, и может быть жестка и женственна одновременно» ^[10] .

Как и большинство отрицательных героев Карпентера, банда «Гроза улицы» показана как сила, обладающая таинственным началом и почти сверхъестественными свойствами. Карпентер пояснил, что «вместо того, чтобы обратиться к какому-то конкретному типу банды, я решил включить в неё всех» ^[6] . У членов банды нет каких-либо человеческих черт и они представлены как зомби или вампиры — они почти не говорят и двигаются стилизованно — медленно, преднамеренно и неумолимо. Карпентер признавал, что при создании образа банды на него оказал влияние фильм «Ночь живых мертвецов» ^{[6] [9]} .

Фильм снимался в анаморфированном формате на Panavision при соотношении сторон кадра 2,35:1, это было первое использование Карпентером этого формата, который он будет использовать во всех своих последующих фильмах. Единственным исключением из этого правила стал фильм « Палата » (2010), который снимался в формате flat (1,85:1), а затем был подрезан под соотношение сторон 2,35:1 ^[67] .

«Нападение» стало первым фильмом Карпентера, в котором его имя указывалось в названии. В дальнейшем он будет ставить своё имя в заглавие каждого своего фильма ^[68] .

• Gilles Boulenger. John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness . — Beverly Hills, CA: Silman-James Press, 2003. — ISBN 1879505673 .
• Conrich, Ian; Woods, David, eds. The Cinema of John Carpenter: The Technique of Terror . — London, England: Wallflower Press, 2004. — ISBN 1904764142 .
• Michelle Le Blanc, Colin Odell. John Carpenter (Creative Essentials) . — Great Britain: Kamera Books, 2011. — ISBN 1842433385 .
• John Kenneth Muir. The Films of John Carpenter . — New York City, NY: McFarland and Company Inc, 2000. — ISBN 0786407255 .
• Jason Zinoman. Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror . — New York City, NY: The Penguin Press, 2011. — ISBN 1101516968 .
• Jack H. Harris. Father of the Blob: The Making Of A Monster Smash & Other Hollywood Tales . — Los Angeles, CA: TVGuestpert Publishing, 2015. — ISBN 0988585510 .
• Harris M. Lentz. Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2011 . — Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2012. — ISBN 0786491345 .
• Jeff Chang. Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation (First ed.) . — New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2005. — ISBN 0312425791 .
• Mick Martin, Marsha Porter. Video Movie Guide (2002 ed.) . — New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2001. — ISBN 0345421000 .
• Leonard Maltin. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (2009 ed.) . — New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2008. — ISBN 0452289785 .
• Wheeler Winston Dixon, Gwendolyn Foster. A Short History of Film (First ed.) . — Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008. — ISBN 0813542707 .
• David Thomson. The New Biographical Dictionary of Film: Fifth Edition, Completely Updated and Expanded . — London, UK: Hachette, 2010. — ISBN 0748108505 .
• Alan Jones. The Rough Guide to Horror Movies . — New York, NY: Rough Guides, 2005. — ISBN 1843535211 .

• «Нападение на 13-й участок» (1976) на официальном сайте Джона Карпентера
• «Нападение на 13-й участок» (англ.) на сайте Internet Movie Database
• «Нападение на 13-й участок» (1976) (англ.) на сайте allmovie
• «Нападение на 13-й участок» (1976) (англ.) на сайте Rotten Tomatoes
• «Нападение на 13-й участок» (англ.) на сайте American Film Institute Catalog
• «Нападение на 13-й участок» (англ.) на сайте TCM Movie Database