As prison movies go, "Prison" easily rises above expectations. Competent acting by Lane Smith, Viggo Mortensen, and a cast of prison stereotypical character actors carries the movie into above average territory. The abandoned Wyoming prison where it was filmed is interesting, and lends authenticity. Although the horror prison aspect has been done more recently, there is a certain quality to "Prison" that has not been replicated. I'm not sure what it is, but the combination of likable characters that have some development fighting an unleashed spirit is depicted quite well, in the tradition of great films like "The Keep". - MERK

Hey man, this is where the bottom of the whole damn world drops out.Wyoming State Penitentery has been shut down for some time and is in dire need of repairs for it is to house a whole lot of prisoners. Hard-as-nails, pain-in-the-ass warden, Eaton Sharpe(Lane Smith) is still haunted by nightmares regarding an inmate put to death, via electric chair. In an attempt to soothe his guilty conscience(his role in the execution of an innocent man), Sharpe wishes to place a crucifix where the execution took place, having two prisoners break down a cemented door which led to the electric chair. In doing this, Sharpe contributes to the release of Forsythe's vengeful spirit. No one is safe from Forsythe's wrath. Chelsea Field is Katherine Walker, one of those prison reformers who fights for better institutions and rehabilitation for convicts. Katherine will have her hands full with Eaton who doesn't adhere to her philosophy in better living conditions for those who have broken the law. Viggo Mortensen, in one of his first starring roles, is Burke, a car thief who shares an eerie resemblance with Forsythe which sends chills to Sharpe. Lincoln Kilpatrick is elderly con Cresus, whose past history regarding Forsythe torments him, he had a role in the execution as well. Tom Everett has a memorable small part as a prisoner who tries to drive a bus out of the prison after most of the cons had unloaded, later suffering a grisly fate when he attempts a second escape (he narrowly survives a harrowing ordeal while locked in solitary as Forsythe's spirit set the water-logged cells a blaze with fervent heat). Ivan Kane is an Italian nicknamed Lasagna who befriends Burke, Tommy "Tiny" Lister is a seemingly mellow(but very scary)mountain of muscle actually named Tiny, and Stephen E Little is especially detestable as a rotund, scraggly homo brute, Rhino(he orders around a young man, a sort of lackey who probably services his sexual needs as well since they share a cell together).I can't really argue against those who would call PRISON essentially a special effects & light show, it is pretty much all style and little substance. But, I still thought it delivered for the crowd who enjoys movies about prisons containing evil presences. I can certainly see why director Renny Harlin landed the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET IV gig because there are some wild and effective supernatural murder sequences such as the "killer barbwire" scene and the exploding prison doors off their hinges, not to mention the computer monitors which eviscerate right before our eyes. Around this time, many filmmakers were using light as an effects tool and in PRISON we see electrical current controlling objects to destroy it's victims. This idea derives from the fact that the killer was executed in the electric chair..it's only natural that the condemned spirit would use this very power which ended his life to decimate others. And, anyone, including prisoners, who try to flee the penitentiary are denied thanks in part of a guard tower machine gun operated by the aforementioned electrical current. I loved the 80's because of the use of blood squibs and PRISON has plenty of moments where bullets blast through bodies, allowing make-up wizards a chance to show the damage of a shot gun or pistol. Probably the corniest scene involves Forsythe himself, making his grand appearance as Sharpe is trying to drive out of the penitentiary. There's a dandy of make-up effect regarding a prisoner being burned alive and the light optical effects are stunning visually. While the film spends a great deal of time with the prisoners and Sharpe(and his guards), Field's part is a bit underwritten in that she witnesses strange goings-on, but factors little in the grand scheme of things other than driving her car to the prison(and researching the history of Forsythe's execution, more than a bit motivated by his tricks to gain her attention )at the very end.

Sometimes, more often than not, a movie's poster can make or break my enjoyment of the main feature itself. Back in 1988 when this movie came out, I kept seeing the poster advertising the movie in my local videostore, now as my love of everything revolving around Empire pictures had been in full throttle for a couple of years previous, I just knew I had to see this movie.Of course being directed by Renny Harlin and produced by Irwin Yablans, meant nothing to me at that time, I devoured every frame of the movie, and enjoyed it to the hilt, of course one of my main reasons for wanting to see the movie was because Charles Band Produced via his Empire Pictures production company.Now many many years later, I've been all to aware of the highs and lows of Renny Harlin's career(if we forget about the lows, let's remember the high that was 'The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane') and we followers of Charles Band all know what happened to Empire Pictures hence the involvement of Irwin Yablans as a co producer on this specific project.Some might say that haunted prison flicks are a dime a dozen, but back in 1988, I had never watched any, of course I've more than made up for that now, the vast majority have all skipped off into the mystic, but 'Prison' has long remained a firm favourite of mine.Having earned his directing stripes on 'Born American' director Renny Harlin honed his visual eye to great effect with many a creepy set piece, and ably assisted by a very literate script by the excellent C.Courtney Joyner(for an example of Joyner's prowess as a scriptwriter, check out 'Trancers 3 & 'Doctor Mordrid').The cast of characters whilst stock in trade, firmly uproot themselves from familiarity, and the actors involved really acquit themselves beyond all recall giving the unfolding scenario a real sense of reality, of course this all helps when they shot the movie in a real life prison somewhere in Wyoming.Special Effects supremo John Carl Beuchler adds his usual aplomb to the proceedings when it comes to the executing the special effects set pieces, somehow you can always tell when John Carl had a hand in the gruesome set pieces, one specific that comes to mind is when Larry Flash Jenkins meets his grisly demise within the confines of solitary confinement, the prop head used reminded of his character creation in the very excellent 'Cellar Dweller'.Such things of note should not diminish the finished product, because when John Carl Beuchler gets involved in any project you will always be guaranteed top quality on screen delights.When it comes to highs and lows or dare I say skeleton's in the closet, to think that Viggo Mortensen took on the starring role, I think he should be very proud of his involvement with this project.Also please note Lane Smith's involvement essaying the role of Warden Eaton Sharpe, his exchange with Chelsea Field near the beginning of the movie more or less sets the tone for the entire movie.Once again this is a classic example of when all the elements were in place, Empire Pictures really nailed the finished product.To borrow the line that Lane Smith speaks to Chelsea Field, 'Not a pleasant place to spend one's life, is it Miss Walker! If you spend eighty minutes plus of your life with this movie, you will find yourself just rewarded.In 1956 Charles Forsythe was sent to the chair.....Now he's back! with that in mind....come get some! A resounding 10 out of 10!

I pulled down a VHS box from my vast collection - many unseen - and picked out a movie, based on the box art, I thought would be fun, and yes, bad. Prison had that 80s cheesy look all over that box. I sat down and watched, and lo! and behold!, found that sometimes we do indeed sit down to a movie with preconceived expectations in mind. Fortunately, I reversed mine quickly and soon realized I was sitting down not just to an okay film but a rather good movie in total. Prison tells the story of an old, dilapidated prison being reopened to save on budgetary concerns. It looks creepy as all empty and filled with prisoners. The prison used as a set is incredibly atmospheric and easily the most important character in the film. The story using the prison as its central setting tells in a prologue of a man being killed via the electric chair. We see Lane Smith as a guard - tearing away a Crucifix before sending the man to his Maker. We then go to present day, first with a government board at a meeting deciding to open the prison and send a beautiful doctor in to make sure that conditions are acceptable as she campaigned vigorously against re-opening the old prison. Then we see the new warden, Lane Smith, haunted by a nightmare in bed - and given the new job of opening a prison he has not been to in years. Well, the rest follows suit: prisoners and guards arrive with plenty of stereotypes abounding. We are given some character depth and several of the prisoners are interesting characters. The acting is better than one might expect with Lane Smith doing as always a workmanlike job. Viggo Mortenson as a very different prisoner being solid. Tom Everett, Tiny Lister, and Ivan Kane really exploring the boundaries of their stereotypical characters. Chelsea Field is okay as the female lead. The best performance is by Lincoln Kilpatrick, an underrated character actor, as Cresus - a prisoner who had been in that very same prison years ago when the "man" had been executed" with some kind of terrible secret. Prison is not the next best thing to sliced bread or anything like that, but it is definitely worth a look and definitely better than most would expect from it. I was pleasantly surprised at the way director Renny Harlin created a story so visually atmospheric. The film has a tense, taut pace and Harlin knows how to build his scenes. There are a few excessively shot gore scenes - the one with the barbed wire was a bit much as was the one with all the pipes. But these scenes are visually creative and interesting. The acting is uniformly decent. The script actually much more cohesive than one usually gets from films like these. That may in part be credited to Irwin Yablans who wrote the story. You may remember he came up with the idea of making Halloween scary as a holiday. Here he makes incarceration a hell of a lot more scarier than it already is. Give Prison a break(get it).