Time in Prison
Or, "Life in The Big House". The prison film has proved to be a popular subject for cinema and many superb titles are represented in this canon of work. Here the human spirit is often shown to thrive in what are generally hostile and oppressive settings. There are the tales of the 'wrongly accused man' protesting his innocence, the 'race against time' thrillers to save the condemned from execution, and the 'prison as hell' where your worst nightmares have come true. There are also the comedies where the familiar prison 'cliches' are parodied, and the science-fiction variants that show the possible shape of things to come...
Now, go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
Pictured: Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in "The Shawshank Redemption".
Lock Up (1989)
6.4/10
Director: John Flynn
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, John Amos, Darlanne Fluegel, Frank McRae,...
It's the most hellish prison in America, and when inmate Sylvester Stallone is brought there for six months of torture at the hands of sadistic warden... Read more
Tango and Cash (1989)
Director: Andrei Konchalovsky
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Teri Hatcher
Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell star in this slick formulaic police thriller about two supercops framed by a megalomanic drug dealer. Read more
Ghosts... of the Civil Dead (1988)
7.1/10
Director: John Hillcoat
Starring: Dave Field, Mike Bishop, Chris De Rose, Nick Cave
An explosive prison film set in an awful warning near-future. Stoked by the authorities who want to trigger police-state powers, unrest grows in a hig... Read more
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
8/10
Director: Errol Morris
Starring: Randall Adams, David Harris, Edith James
An extraordinary film that expands all notions of film documentaries as director Errol Morris ('A Brief History of Time') personally investigates the... Read more
Down By Law (1986)
7.8/10
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Ellen Barkin, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, John Lurie, Tom Waits
Jim Jarmusch's follow-up to his immensely successful "Stranger Than Paradise" stars Tom Waits, John Lurie - and in a treasure of a performance, Robert... Read more
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
7.4/10
Director: Hector Babenco
Starring: William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sonia Braga
Two prisoners in a Latin American jail, one a Spartan revolutionary leader (Raul Julia), the other a movie-obsessed homosexual (Best Actor Academy Awa... Read more
Mrs Soffel (1984)
6.3/10
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Starring: Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson, Matthew Modine
Diane Keaton is the sheltered wife of a stern prison warden who surrenders to the powerful attraction of a death-row convict (Mel Gibson); both become... Read more
L'argent ( Money ) (1983)
7.5/10
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Christian Patey, Vincent Risterucci
Aka 'Money'. Bresson's classic film, adapted from a story by Tolstoy, tells of the tragic chain of events which ensue when two schoolboys pass a forge... Read more
Scrubbers (1982)
5.6/10
Director: Mai Zetterling
Starring: Amanda York, Chrissie Cotterill, Elizabeth Edmonds, Kathy Burke
A follow up to Alan Clarke's "Scum", an indictment of Britain's juvenile justice system, "Scrubbers" graphically depicts life behind bars in a woman's... Read more
Escape From New York ( Blu-ray ) (1981)
7.2/10
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Donald Pleasence, Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton, Kurt Ru...
1997. New York City is a maximum security prison. When the President's plane crash lands within it's walls, he is taken prisoner by criminals demandin... Read more