Director: John Carpenter / Year: 1981 / Color / English Language / MPA rating: R / Runtime: 99 min.

The pleasures are right in your face, beginning with the million-dollar idea of turning NYC into a walled-off prison where criminals run free. Even born-and-raised New Yorkers (of which Carpenter was decidedly not) could smile at that histrionic setup; it’s an outsider’s joke made funny by our willingness to be entertained.

Review by Joshua Rothkopf for Time Out New York