The all new Assault On Precinct 13 is good value for money. A Frankenstein film of epic proportions, it gobbles up the original (an odd word given this plot) Die Hard 2, The Matrix and any film in which Gabriel Byrne has been rubbish in (all of them) to its own entertaining effect. It could be said that Carpenter’s version was a stripped down purring engine of plot, soundtrack and not much else. The new one is pretty much the opposite. The plot is thoroughly implausible, the soundtrack rubbish. But in the way it efficiently hits its genre buttons are a joy.
Oh – but as for that soundtrack, wait until the very end. KRS-One turns in a track which not only recounts the entire plot of the film you have just seen, but also does the job of the credits in telling you who played who. Not since MC Hammer chatted over the end of the Adams Family film have we had such a good reason to stay for the credits and watch with amazement as KRS-One does even more to end his career than working with R.E.M.