Duro de Prender

Yes people this has three cast members from the movie "Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3" shocked? Well for me, yes I was very shocked. Tom Everett and Viggo Mortensen are too excellent actors, you might remember them as Tex and Alfredo, from TCM 3 of course. Prison relates to other movies like "The Horror Show", "Destroyer", and "Shocker" but there was something different about this film. It was creepier than all those others and it had better torture scenes of pain and agony and including...yes...death. The only thing that didn't make it as good as all the others you only see the spirit one time for about ten seconds, that's it. Through the whole movie the spirit appears as bright light and electricity. Oh and did I include that Kane Hodder is in this too? Good story, alright setting (It takes place in a prison what else do you want), and acting is basically average. If you like prison horror movies this is a for must see for your eyes, pure eye candy!

Considering the amount of crap that Hollywood studios churn out onto DVD these days, it's simply amazing that this absolute gem of a horror movie is only available on video (and NTSC at that!). If you, like me, are a big fan of the multi-talented Viggo Mortensen and are lucky enough to come across a copy of this film on eBay or suchlike, then I suggest you buy it until someone comes to their senses and treats this film to the DVD transfer that it richly deserves.

This was Renny Harlin's fourth film (just before he came to fame with 'Die Hard 2') and stars Viggo, as the kind of prisoner that you'd want as your friend, along with Lane Smith (he of the 'Superman' TV series) as a deliciously sadistic warden. The story takes place in a prison (no surprise there, though it was filmed in a REAL prison which adds to the atmosphere) and concerns the unintentional release of the revenging spirit of a prisoner electrocuted 30 years earlier - nuff said. Fans of truly inventive and gory dispatches will love this film. The ending is a bit cheesy, but that's the only quibble I have.

9/10

PS - Viggo does look real good in his underwear.

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.

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

No great shakes in terms of scripting and originality, but this interesting horror film has an unusual, realistic edge that sets it apart from most routine thrillers. Well-drawn characters and first-rate effects make this a perfectly decent, if minor, effort. The explosive final sequence is very well-edited.