One of the best thriller movies of all time is on TV tonight

It holds a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Our TV movie pick for tonight is Assault on Precinct 13, the 1976 indie action thriller classic from legendary writer-director John Carpenter (Escape from New York, Halloween, The Thing).

The film centres around about a group of cops, criminals and secretaries who must defend a soon-to-be-closed Los Angeles police precinct office against a siege by a street gang, whose members have sworn a blood oath of revenge against the police and the citizens of LA.

The breakthrough work of Carpenter’s, Assault on Precinct 13 saw the filmmaker cribbing various elements from older westerns and updating them for a more modern setting.

Holding a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score, the movie has gone on to be considered a classic by many thanks to its eerie electronic score made by Carpenter itself, its mean-and-lean storytelling, its hard-hitting violence and its almost unrelenting sense of tension.

It even inspired a decent 2005 remake with Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne.

The original Assault on Precinct 13 is airing on TV tonight on the channel Legend Xtra at 11.10pm. The film is also available to stream on Prime Video and Shudder.

Here are the other movies on TV tonight:

Titanic – Film4 – 9pm

“I’m the king of the world!”

The Waterboy – Comedy Central – 9pm

Adam Sandler is the waterboy.

Alex Cross – ITV4 – 9pm

The 2012 film adaptation of James Patterson’s iconic novel series, which will soon be getting a Prime Video TV reboot.

Convoy – Legend Xtra – 9pm

Helmed by legendary filmmaker Sam Peckinpah (Straw Dogs, The Wild Bunch), this ’70s road action comedy stars Kris Kristofferson and is based on the hit novelty country song ‘Convoy’.

Standoff – Legend – 9pm

In this thriller, a troubled veteran (Thomas Jane) gets a chance at redemption by protecting a young girl from an assassin (Laurence Fishburne) after she witnesses a murder.

Air America – Legend – 10.45pm

The underseen ’90s buddy action comedy with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr.

Nighthawks – ITV4 – 11.05pm

Sylvester Stallone stars in this cult ’80s action crime flick as a New York cop tasked with finding a pair of terrorists.