PRISON

Guards at a maximum-security prison enter a cell one night and drag a prisoner to the electric chair, where a small public gallery has formed to watch.

The switch is flicked and the electricity begins raging through the masked prisoner's body, his arms and head setting alight. It looks extremely painful, so it's a relief that it's all just a bad dream. Sharpe (Lane Smith) awakens from the nightmare, answering the telephone at his bedside.

Traumatised by memories of a shady incident from when he was a prison warden many moons ago, he's just woken in a sweat after another of his frequent bad dreams over it. So when the man on the other end of the phone offers Sharpe a job as warden of a prison that has been closed down and engulfed in controversy for the last two decades … naturally, he takes the job (!).

When Sharpe first arrives at the dilapidated prison, he's greeted by Katherine (Chelsea Field) - a self-righteous type who is openly opposed to her fellow board members' plans to reopen the cursed prison in a bid to tackle overcrowding. But, as she informs Sharpe, she was outvoted and has been sent to help him get the place up and running: she's been instructed to co-operate.

The following morning, a few busloads of prisoners arrive at the prison. Among them is icy Burke (Viggo Mortensen). Two other, less composed prisoners try to escape in one of the buses and earn themselves a six-month spell in solitary confinement. Sharpe is one tough man, it would seem.

So we spend a little time getting to know a core of inmates - the aforementioned Burke who only speaks when necessary; wisecracking hood Lasagna (Ivan Kane) who carries a Rambo poster around with him; quietly spoken man-mountain Rhino (Stephen E Reynolds) etc. Stock characters given clichéd lines to breathe little life into - but at least this keeps the pace brisk and exposition to a minimum.

In the meantime, Katherine assumes her role as watchdog and medic for the prisoners, eyeing up anything that may be considered as inhumane or off the wall. Such as a frankly mental warden given to waking from afternoon naps screaming, repeatedly terrorised by visions of a wrongfully executed prisoner coming back for revenge …

Burke clues Lasagna in on the rumour that the prison is indeed haunted, but both inmates and guards are initially sceptical. However, come the midway mark, the blood finally starts to run and a fight for survival against supernatural odds is on the cards.

From the infamous Empire stable - Charles Band's cheerfully cheap exploitation factory - PRISON carries all the hallmarks of its ilk. Richard Band synth score? Check. Sex and violence at regular intervals? Check. Dodgy 80s hairstyles and clothing? Check, check and check again.

But that's part of PRISON's charm. It isn't looking for Oscars, or even approval from self-considered cineastes. It's a dumb but fun slab of exploitation: entertainment for young adults hooked on the safety net of patently fake violent escapism.

The story is a simple and familiar one, acting as an effective device that sets the scene quickly and establishes characters during the first half-hour before letting the FX do the work during the final hour. The story of an evil spirit returning for revenge could've been set anywhere, but the prison setting - a real prison was used as location, no doubt thanks to producer Irwin Yablans' influence - makes the proceedings all the more atmospheric.

The cast are pedestrian. Mortensen is his usual aloof self (I think it's him aiming for "cool"). But they do their job, and in such trite fare it hardly matters that only Smith turns in a memorably enjoyable performance.

The real reason for watching PRISON is it's taut, energetic direction from Renny Harlin, clearly working on PRISON as his Hollywood calling card prior to hitting the big league with DIE HARD 2. That, and the entertainingly crude prosthetic effects. The gore, while never nasty, is fun and a few set-pieces undeniably stand out.

Aside from the synth score and aforementioned fashions, the film is easily identifiable as an 80s offering due to it's "greed is the enemy" underlying subtext (an indie bash against the mainstream WALL STREET ethos of the time) and, on a more visual level, the low budget attempts at style via blue lighting and dry ice on set.

The script is a hoot. Characters and sub-plots are riddled with clichés cribbed from just about every prison film ever made. Aside from a supernatural haunting, we get staple ingredients such as the threat of in-cell buggery; sadistic guards; the hard-line warden; escape plots; the nurse who befriends the hero (very PRISON BREAK, no?); spells in solitary confinement; work detail … But that's not a quibble: the film actually works better as a corny prison drama than it does as a horror show.

There's the main flaw - the horror scenes are competently lensed and edited, but the real interest lies in the hackneyed human drama earlier in the film. Aside from this, my only other gripe is that PRISON is maybe fifteen minutes too long - but it is still agreeable in more ways than not.

Cheesy, cheap, occasionally gory and fast-paced. It's aged, but haven't we all?

The disc here is disappointingly basic, considering how long fans of the film have been waiting for a UK DVD release.

The film is presented uncut in anamorphic 1.85:1 and looks generally good. The picture is a tad soft and hazy at times, but colours come through strong and minimal grain ensures blacks are accurate.

The English 2.0 audio track is a very loud and clear affair. Most impressive.

A static main menu leads to a static scene-selection menu allowing you into PRISON via 12 chapters.

The only extra on offer here is a 90-second trailer in anamorphic 1.85:1.

PRISON looks and sounds good for a film of its lineage. It's not a flawless presentation but is certainly good enough to watch without complaint. The film itself is also flawed - and dated - but remains better than similar, more recent efforts such as FURNACE and SEED.

What a shame the UK DVD is so barren though - but I bet it'll still shift units once it hits the bargain bins.

Review by Stuart Willis