Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Less subtle though arguably more successful than Romero's Night of the Living Dead, the film evokes an ever-shifting political pecking order when a cultural cross-section of society trapped inside a Los Angeles police station wages war against a violent street gang named Street Thunder. Blaxploitation star Austin Stoker stars as Bishop, a cop sent to baby-sit Precinct 13 as it closes shop. Tensions mount when cops shoot and kill six members of the gang. (A news reporter notes the interracial mixture of the victims, in essence setting up the film's critical race crisis.) Members of Street Thunder go on a killing spree, senselessly (and fabulously) offing an ice-cream man and the daughter of a man who's obviously distrustful of authority. When the man avenges his daughter's death and seeks refuge inside Precinct 13, Street Thunder descends on the police station with menacing aplomb.

Supremely well-paced, with interesting characters and a superfluity of references to Rio Bravo. Would see again.