Blu-Ray Review: Assault on Precinct 13 (Collector’s Edition)

By Brad Henderson

“It would be a privilege if you’d walk outside with me.”
—Lt. Ethan Bishop in Assault on Precinct 13

When I was younger I discovered John Carpenter. I was obsessed with Halloween and The Thing; this made me try to track down everything that he had done. Keep in mind that this was the middle of the ’90s so certain titles on VHS were scarce and DVD hadn’t hit it big yet. Tracking down Carpenter titles was very difficult for a little kid that loved obscure films.

I would go with my parents to every flea market that we could so I could scour the depths of boxes trying to find any horror or action titles that existed. Assault on Precinct 13 was one of those titles that I was searching for. I was determined to find it and consume it.

One day while searching through a pile of tapes, my mom came up behind me and told me to follow her immediately. My mom was my partner in crime in this because she loved these films as much as I did, and was the sole reason I got into this stuff at such a young age. She pulled my arm as we raced down one of the aisles. At the end was an old man with about five huge boxes of VHS tapes which he was unloading from his truck. He let me help him unpack and I did so with a big smile on my face and my hands dirty from a day of searching through old tapes.

At first the boxes were full of cartoons and he kept holding up kids’ movies and recommending titles until my mom said I was only interested in horror. After he let me be, I hit the goldmine. The last two boxes were all horror and a copy of Assault on Precinct 13 was amongst everything else. I started shaking once I picked up the case. You may not understand, but if you collect VHS you know exactly what I was feeling at that moment. I almost cried, but I didn’t. I just kept searching with that title tucked under my arm.

Scream Factory has blessed us with a reissue of Assault on Precinct 13 and has given us the best picture quality to date. I would know because I have owned the VHS, a foreign DVD, the domestic DVD, and the Blu-Ray released a year or so ago. Not only is this film one of the best flicks ever, but also it now looks and sounds fantastic. I can tell you that as soon as it starts and that synthesizer hits your eardrums, you’ll be blown away.

The special features are nice and basic mostly consisting of interviews with the cast and crew. Your radio spots and trailers are on there along with a fantastic commentary by the Horror Master himself, John Carpenter. Nothing beats hearing his voice tell stories on how the film was made and the obstacles that he faced.

Scream Factory continues to impress me. I hope they continue to release films like this. It makes me reminisce about my childhood and the times with my mom helping me look for movies and surprising me by finding them. Thank you.

Assault on Precinct 13 was released by Scream Factory on November 19, 2013.