What’s more, Napoleon Wilson is the first example of what would eventually be called “the Carpenter anti-hero,” funny name and all.Īfter his 1978 surprise smash hit Halloween put both him and the American slasher genre on the map, Carpenter turned to television for an Elvis bio-pic with Kurt Russell in the title role. The outlaw anti-hero is a staple of the Western genre, and Joston plays the role with just the right amount of drawl and swagger, where he’s recognizable as that Western archetype without seeming entirely anachronistic. Then we have Darwin Joston as the mysterious and apparently murderous convict, Napoleon Wilson. An odd combination perhaps, but understandable given the influence Howard Hawks has had on Carpenter’s work.
Her character comes across as an urban version of a tough-as-nails frontier woman, sometimes with a hint of film noir. Then we have Laurie Zimmer as Leigh, the station secretary. Ethan Bishop, the stoic and idealistic lawman, given the unenviable job of protecting the isolated precinct. The skeleton crew of the soon-to-be-shuttered precinct, along with a handful of prisoners, hunker down for the siege.īeyond the siege premise, which gives the film a Western vibe on its own, the Western influence is really felt with the trio of central characters. They’ve come for a man who has taken shelter there, having killed a gang leader in retribution for the (shockingly brutal) murder of his young daughter.
Set in Anderson, a crime-ridden ghetto of then-contemporary Los Angeles, Assault centers around a police precinct house that comes under attack by a coalition of local gangs. Based on Carpenter’s original screenplay The Anderson Alamo, the film draws heavily on Night of the Living Dead and-drumroll please- Rio Bravo. This film was Carpenter’s first film to be conceived as a feature, 1 and perhaps because of that, Carpenter’s desire to make Westerns is more overt than usual.
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