The prison where the movie was shot, the former Wyoming State Prison located in Rawlins, Wyoming, has daily tours and much of the set remains intact from when crews filmed there in 1987.
Viggo Mortensen did the bulk of his own stunts. Stunt coordinator Kane Hodder gave Mortensen an honorary stuntman's shirt at the completion of the shooting for this film.
The electric chair (which was never used in Wyoming) was built into the actual gas chamber of the Wyoming Prison and the death scenes were filmed there. The original chair, was carefully removed and an electric chair was built in its place. During the shooting, Viggo Mortensen's convulsions were so violent the arms of the chair were broken and needed to be repaired.
Director Renny Harlin was living in a garage of film executive Venetia Stevenson in the Valley, California when he was first approached to direct the film. Harlin was paid $50,000, most of which went to his credit card debt. After the film, Harlin moved to the Magic Hotel in Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, where he also stayed during the production of Le Cauchemar de Freddy (1988).
Most of the inmate extras in the film were portrayed by real-life inmates from a nearby prison to add realism to their performances. The armed guards on the towers were, of course, armed with live ammo at the time. Stephen E. Little (Rhino) was a former Hollywood stuntman, who was still a member of SAG, who happened to be serving time for manslaughter that he committed during a bar-room brawl.