Convict

CONVICT is a low budget Australian prison film that sees a former soldier sent to a brutal prison where he must survive the machinations of the corrupt warden and a pair of sadistic guards. It's very much par for the course for a prison movie, with all of the shanks, male rape, bathroom beatings and unpleasant torture you'd expect to see, but at the same time it acquits itself well with the material.

The film's lead is played by the unknown-to-me George Basha as a tough but ordinary everyman who soon finds himself adapting to a violent world. The set-up and situations in which he finds himself are very predictable but I've always been a fan of the prison film as a whole so I really enjoyed this. The performances from the unknown cast are strong, particularly the bad guys, and the narrative keeps you guessing as to what's going to unfold next. Mostly though it's that sense of unease, of barely suppressed violence that had me intrigued. Not a great film then, but a solid one in any case.

Some of the worst acting I've ever seen. The movie is unintentionally funny. It really is that bad.

Starts off a little B Grade yet comes through, need to give it a chance.Good Aussie Movie.

I don't get all the low raters, look if you want a classic prisoner film watch the 1972 Papillon, or Midnight Express - a real remarkable film, "Scum" is another, there's a few greats, surely you knew what you were getting into with Convict? By the very title and the first few minutes it's a kind of give away... it's a kick ass, tension belter, hard man, beat me up often flick.

Sometimes it's good to have Burger than a Steak, that's it, if you enjoy a lower budget prison film this is for you, if you're expecting a Oscar award winning, thought provoking classic, you're going to be disappointed, people educate yourself with films, Google it, it isn't hard, the choice of prison films is huge, also except you're not gonna find many new classics made now, best period for this genre was the 1970's. No question. Having said that, I enjoyed this because I knew what I was gonna get.

This is not a great movie. It's never going to garner much of 'The Academy's' time and is an absolutely derivative example of the genre, to the point where a seasoned viewer would be able to identify each prison film that is being mined on a scene by scene basis.

That said, it's not terrible either. It's technically competent with regards to sound, lighting and cinematography and the sets and extras make for an immersive and atmospheric environment. Some of the dialogue is a bit leaden, and it's delivery equally so in parts, but this is definitely 5/10 material.

I'm not sure that those reviewers giving 1/10 scores have ever actually seen a truly bad film. This is not one of those.