Return of the Reluctant has an excellent post on what's wrong with a proposed remake of "Assault on Precinct 13." (I didn't even know someone was remaking it, and it sounds like it shouldn't be.) I haven't seen that movie in years, but I loved the trapped feeling you have in that film. There's no way out, what can you do? I have to see it again.
I seem to be on something of a John Carpenter kick lately. I just bought the Collector's Edition DVD of "The Thing" the other day. That movie holds up extremely well (despite a few holes I can now see in the plot.) Next I want to buy the "Escape from New York" special edition. Between 1975 and 1985, Carpenter was at the top of his game.