Prison (1987)
Genre: Horror / Drama
Duration: 102 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Renny Harlin
Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Lane Smith and Tom Everett
IMDb score:
5,8 (5.201)
Releasedate: 8 December 1987
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Prison plot
"Horror has a new home."
1956: Charlie Forsythe is sentenced to death in prison for murdering a cellmate. Hard prison guard Eaton Sharpe watches Forsythe's execution without emotion. Shortly afterwards, the prison is closed. Thirty years later, the prison reopens and Eaton returns as a prison warden. This time even harder, but with bad dreams. Because was Forsythe guilty?
Actors and actresses
Burke / Forsythe Electrocution
Katherine Walker
Warden Eaton Sharpe
Cresus
Rabbitt
Lasagna
Sandor
'Rhino' Reynolds
Brian Young
Reviews & comments
scorsese
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- 13430 messages
- 11264 votes
A decent film about a prison that is put back into use after being closed for several years. It takes a while for the already thin storyline to get going. But after that, a number of original kills follow, and the film manages to establish a nice atmosphere (the location certainly contributes to this). The special effects still look reasonable 30 years later.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Gang_Star
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- 6837 messages
- 3401 votes
Renny Harlin is one of those directors I appreciate for his action films. I find his horror films, like The Covenant and Exorcist: The Beginning, to be weak. I prefer his Nightmare on Elm Street film. Consequently, I started this Prison with mixed feelings. On the one hand because of the reasonable score, but on the other because of his weaker work in the horror genre. Still, Prison turned out better than expected, although it took me about six attempts because I kept falling asleep.
The opening is decent, after which it actually takes a very long time for the film to get going. There was constantly too much dialogue and too little action or suspense. Only halfway through does the film completely turn around and become interesting. The kills are cool and especially the kill with the barbed wire where the body came through the floor and sat opposite Warden Sharpe . There is more tension and gore, and lightning is used in an interesting way. The atmosphere in the prison is also good and it is a fine setting.
With Prison, Harlin delivers a film that seems to fizzle out, but which remains a very decent film thanks to the strong second half in particular, by opening up his bag of tricks.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Collins
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- 7452 messages
- 4430 votes
Before director Renny Harlin could call upon larger budgets with which he could make films like Die Hard 2 (1990) and Cliffhanger (1993), he made Prison, among others. A B-grade haunted house film set in a harsh prison environment led by a ruthless warden (a repeatedly overacting Lane Smith) and plagued by death and destruction. The solid lead role goes to Viggo Mortensen as a prisoner who soon realizes that not all death and destruction is caused by the warden.
The film's qualities do not lie in the story. It is flat and contains hardly any surprises. Life in prison and the character portrayals are depicted in a clichéd manner. The usual role patterns and the usual hierarchical constellation. Predictable, in other words. The film relies on its pacing, the atmosphere, and the gory special effects. The crowning glory of the film is an action-packed finale that is over the top in a good way and serves as a foretaste of the direction Harlin takes in his later films.
Although Prison never becomes very suspenseful, Harlin manages to give the unexciting story a fine pace, which enhances the dynamic experience. He also succeeds in establishing a good, unsettling atmosphere at the moments that call for it. The film isn't very good. Nor is it very bad. Perhaps I am being a bit lenient in my judgment, but it was simply fun to see a typical 80s horror film again. Call it nostalgia.
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