BA_Harrison A cash-strapped prison board decides to reopen an old, run-down slammer that has been closed since 1968, putting no-nonsense warden Eaton Sharpe (Lane Smith), an ex-guard at the establishment, in charge of running the show. When Sharpe orders two of the new inmates (one of whom is played by a young Viggo Mortensen) to break down the sealed-up entrance to the execution chamber, he unwittingly unleashes the vengeful spirit of dead convict Charlie Forsythe, who was wrongfully sent to the electric chair.With the two men responsible for this dreadful miscarriage of justice currently residing in the very same prison as Forsythe's ghost, one might expect retribution to be swift, but director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea) drags out matters for over 100 minutes, chucking in as many hoary prison drama clichés as possible in the process, whilst having his malevolent spook kill off several other characters for no discernible reason other than to pad out the action and meet the gore quota—except that the splatter here is remarkably tame despite the inventive nature of the deaths.5.5/10, rounded down to 5 for the cinematography, which utilises a blue tint and smoke throughout in a bid to add style and atmosphere, but which, in reality, only succeeds in making everything blue and smoky.

crystalart I thought I had already written a review of Prison, but I guess not.Tonight I'm rewatching it after reviewing Lane Smith's film history.This one is overlooked completely on the Wikipedia bio of Smith. There isn't even a picture of him.I see it didn't make much money. That seems to frequently figure in to a film's "popularity", I'm afraid.Viggo Mortensen was little know when he starred in this gem.The special effects are especially good. They came up with some extremely creative ways of doing people in.Smith plays the vicious warden especially well.I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

merklekranz 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

James Bourke 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!