The Horror Vision

It’s time to get ready for a fight, horror fiends! In 1976, director John Carpenter released Assualt on Precinct 13 and almost single-handedly created the modern siege film. The story of a policeman with a couple of other officers, secretaries, three felons, and a hysterical man trying to keep at bay gang members who are trying to break into a closing police station in an abandoned section of Los Angeles to kill them all was groundbreaking. The gang members were a nameless, faceless threat, while the people keeping them out were charismatic and likable. The film also highlighted a characteristic that would be synonymous with the siege drama: urban blight. These films and stories would literally not be possible if the locations under siege – once functional structures occupying the heart of booming, populated areas – had not been left behind, abandoned by urban growth. Since the film was released, the genre has become a favorite subgenre within Horror (even Carpenter himself returned to it several times) so today, we are going to dive into a siege double feature with John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars and Joe Begos’ VFW.