Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Watching this film in 2018, the opening scenes, watching largely non-white gang members being mowed down by police in what seems like an excess of force, followed by four men vowing to take action for their fallen comrades, I thought for a second that they were the protagonists of this story. But then one of the guys executes a young girl and any illusion that this was a nuanced social critique were promptly removed. This is a film of an era that legitimately had a high crime rate. Though if these gang members had just waited 40 years, the NRA would make it so they could get their high-powered, silenced weapons legally without all the hassle.
I'd say the issue that comes up with the bad guys here is that they ultimately take on kind of a nameless, faceless mystical sort of force. Though they ostensibly act out of revenge for the death of their fellow gang members, it is a very general, unfocused menace, targeting anybody and everybody. They move in a countless horde, appearing and disappearing like the wind, and completely unafraid of death (and thus attacking in a swarm of attrition...it makes sense that Night of the Living Dead is considered one of the influences on the story).
If the enemy lacks meaningful purpose or vitality, the lack of charisma among the bulk of the good guys and gals with guns doesn't help a lot. One guy is literally just catatonic for basically the whole thing. I guess that is how shock works? The core has decent enough banter I suppose, but it felt as cheap as it actually was to make. Usually what makes a low-budget B-movie standout is what it has to say, since it has to sacrifice on how it is made, this one didn't stand out for me (as someone who generally has found Carpenter a bit to ragged generally).