Flickering Myth’s Casey Chong presents eight great prison movies for your watch list…
Notable prison movies such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Papillon and Escape from Alcatraz rule the genre, offering a mix of character-driven stories with emotional and dramatic urgency behind the locked cells. But there’s a healthy selection of great prison movies out there, and here’s eight of them that are well worth checking out if you haven’t done so…
Dog Pound (2010)
French director Kim Chapiron, marking his first English-language debut, embraces a raw, take-no-prisoners approach in Dog Pound, which centres on three teenagers – Adam Butcher’s Butch, Shane Kippel’s Davis and Mateo Morales’s Angel – imprisoned in a juvenile correctional facility for their crimes. Chapiron, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jeremie Delon, pounds hard on the movie’s subject matter surrounding the hostile life within the facility, minus the glamorization of Hollywood-style prison-film structure.
It’s like a jungle out there, devoid of hope but only endless descent into violence and tragedy. Chapiron also draws great performances from his young cast, notably Adam Butcher’s electric performance as the volatile Butch. He doesn’t shy away from the matter-of-fact brutality, complete with the pessimistic finale that ends Dog Pound on an uncompromisingly cruel note.
Starred Up (2013)
David Mackenzie has proven to be a versatile filmmaker, effortlessly capable of crossing over from one genre after another, from dark comedy and horror in The Last Great Wilderness to sci-fi romance Perfect Sense, and before he directed the acclaimed neo-Western Hell or High Water, Mackenzie explored the prison genre in Starred Up. The title refers to 19-year-old Eric Love (Jack O’Connell, in one of his best performances to date), who ends up being transferred from a juvenile detention center to a prison dominated by adults due to his violent crime. Eric is like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode; evidently in his extremely volatile nature, and is prone to anger management.
The movie isn’t just about navigating Eric’s character arc living in the jail, but the story also injects the conflicted father-son dynamic with Ben Mendelsohn’s Neville, who is also in the same prison block. Rupert Friend brings solid support as the prison therapist, who tries his best to rehabilitate Eric through a group session with other participating inmates. Mackenzie brings out all things pragmatic when it comes to brutal prison violence, mixing grit with authentic prison life, thanks to Jonathan Asser’s insightful screenplay.
The Last Castle (2001)
The Last Castle’s release date and its subject matter of the prisoner leading an insurrection against the tyrannical warden were victims of bad timing, coming after the still-fresh-in-the-mind post 9/11 tragedy. It failed to recoup its costly $72 million budget, earning only a paltry $27.6 million at the box office. The movie stars Robert Redford as the disgraced Lieutenant General Eugene Irwin, who is sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in a maximum-security military prison. The warden-in-charge, Colonel Ed Winter (James Gandolfini), exercises his power against Eugene, triggering a never-ending conflict between the two opposing individuals.
Director Rod Lurie, marking only his third directorial feature at the time after Deterrence and The Contender, gives his actors plenty of room to showcase their acting prowess, with Redford bringing gravitas to his charismatic role as Eugene, and Gandolfini does a good job playing the egoistic military warden obsessed with power and authority.
Animal Factory (2000)
Steve Buscemi’s second directorial feature after Trees Lounge sees the actor-director, who also plays a small role, focus on the mentor-protégé dynamic between Willem Dafoe’s Earl Copen and Edward Furlong’s Ron Decker in Animal Factory. The movie benefits from Edward Bunker’s adapted screenplay from his novel of the same name, whose real-life experience as a former convict lends a sense of lived-in authenticity to the story.
Buscemi eschews the usual expectations in sensationalizing the prison-movie tropes. He is more interested in exploring the slice-of-life aspect of what it’s like living in a jail, particularly from Ron Decker’s perspective as a new inmate learning to adapt to the prison’s hostile environment and its culture. Buscemi leaves ample room for his actors to shine, including Dafoe sporting a shaved look as the world-weary Earl, while Furlong does a good job holding his own as Ron. The movie also boasts strong supporting turns from Danny Trejo and Mickey Rourke, where the latter is cast against type as Ron’s trans jailmate, Jan.
Lock Up (1989)
Stallone goes to prison in Lock Up, playing the role of Frank Leone, who served his final months at a minimum-security prison. He then finds himself unexpectedly transferred to the maximum-security prison overseen by Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland), who holds a grudge against him. John Flynn’s direction tends to be melodramatic at times, but the movie boasts Stallone’s tough, everyman charisma, who holds everything together. His largely grounded performance matches well with Sutherland’s sadistic antagonist character as the vengeful warden, where the latter would do anything within his power to make Leone’s life a living hell.
Stallone is equally backed by a solid supporting cast from Tom Sizemore as the motormouthed Dallas to Frank McRae in his likeable turn as Eclipse. Credit also goes to Flynn for maintaining the authenticity of the prison setting, as the movie was actually filmed in the actual East Jersey State Prison, complete with real-life prisoners serving as background extras for added realism. Lock Up sadly underperformed at the time of its release, tanking at $22.1 million on a $24 million budget.
No Escape (1994)
Otherwise known as Escape from Absolom in some countries, No Escape gives us an earlier look at how pre-GoldenEye Martin Campbell skillfully handles the action-movie tropes within his mainstream filmmaking style. The premise boasts a dystopian sci-fi angle of a prison-movie formula, focusing on the decorated ex-Marine John Robbins (Ray Liotta), who ends up with life imprisonment after executing his commanding officer in point-blank.
The prison comes in the form of a gritty Mad Max-like remote island surrounded by two factions of inmates: The savage Outsiders led by Walter Marek (Stuart Wilson), and The Father (a perfectly world-weary Lance Henriksen)-led sovereign, yet more civilized Insiders. No Escape barely scraped by in its box-office earnings beyond the movie’s $20 million budget, but it establishes Campbell’s flair for thrilling action set pieces. The movie equally benefits from Ray Liotta’s engaging antihero role, while Stuart Wilson has a field day chewing the scenery as the unhinged Walter Marek.
Felon (2008)
Former stuntman-turned-director Ric Roman Waugh brings together Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer in two of their most overlooked performances of their career in the sadly little-seen Felon. Dorff plays Wade, a hardworking family man who is sentenced to three years of imprisonment for involuntary manslaughter. From there, he befriends John Smith (Val Kilmer), a jaded cellmate serving a life sentence.
Waugh shows plenty of nuance in both his direction and screenwriting, incorporating gritty realism surrounding abuse, violence and survival within the prison facility. The highlight of Felon lies in the on-screen dynamic between the bonding of Dorff’s Wade and Kilmer’s Smith, giving the movie a substantial layer of emotional and dramatic depth in their character arcs.
In Hell (2003)
Save for the recurring flashbacks and odd-sounding electronic score in some parts, Ringo Lam’s In Hell sees the renowned Hong Kong director’s English-language feature return to his familiar Prison on Fire territory. The movie once again reunites with Van Damme, who previously worked together in Maximum Risk and Replicant. Here, the Muscles from Brussels plays an American man working in Russia, who ends up convicted for life imprisonment without parole after killing the man who murdered his wife in front of the courthouse.
There are plenty of fights in the movie, but none of the usual martial arts moves commonly associated with Van Damme. Instead, the fights are messier and more grounded in their execution, while Van Damme himself is given the opportunity to showcase his dramatic prowess. Not exactly the same level as Chow Yun-Fat seen in the Prison on Fire duology, but In Hell still proves that Van Damme is capable of playing an emotional role rather than just being labelled as a martial arts star.
What are your favourite prison movies? Give us your recommendations on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong
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