» Spoiler (1998, USA)
“The most exciting breakout movie of all time,” the DVD blurb claims. Well, not quite. (more…)
Posted on July 23rd, 2016 at 10:45 pm. Updated on July 23rd, 2016 at 10:45 pm.
Clichés
» The Last Castle (2001, USA)
The Last Castle has many of the hallmarks of a Shawshank; a classic battle of strategy between principled prisoner and corrupt warden, an imposing prison setting (the magnificent, fortress-like Tennessee State Penitentiary), and similar production values. But it doesn’t quite have the same impact… maybe because its message is a little muddier. (more…)
Posted on July 21st, 2016 at 9:14 pm. Updated on January 1st, 2017 at 9:02 am.
» Under Jakob’s Ladder (2011, USA)
It might have been because I kept switching between election updates and the football scores while watching this, but it didn’t have the impact on me that I presume its makers wanted. Or maybe – despite me knowing virtually nothing about the pre-war Russian penal system – it was because it seemed more like a cheap re-creation of a village pokey than the Siberian gulag I had somehow preconceived.
Posted on July 9th, 2016 at 5:52 pm. Updated on January 1st, 2017 at 9:02 am.
» Hellcage: Inmate 611 Part 2 (2007, Japan)
Fans of Akira Kiuchi have every right to feel cheated. Kiuchi plays Sayaka Mizschima – the Inmate 611 of the title – but gets to say, by my reckoning, just six words (maybe fewer in Japanese) in the entire film (‘Five’ when counting off, ‘M’am’, ‘No, m’am’, and ‘I’m terrible’ when asked about her ping pong prowess). There is way more ping pong than Sayaka. (more…)
Posted on June 26th, 2016 at 1:49 pm. Updated on June 26th, 2016 at 1:49 pm.
» Hellhole: Inmate 611 (2007, Japan)
An odd, boring film. Oddly boring. On the basis of a number of reviewers bemoaning the lack of lesbian sex and shower scenes, I thought that this might be a women’s prison movie with something to say. It isn’t and doesn’t. It does, however, aim to educate, giving a helpful rundown on the prisoners’ day and explaining various aspects of prison life – such as that the reception process is known as ‘red fall’ because inmates used to wear red clothing, and that prison food is known as ‘Mossou chow’, a mossou being the bowl from which the food is eaten. These are useful pieces of information. But all this illumination is interrupted by several less edifying and rather tedious sex scenes where the gratuitous wearing of underwear and draped bedclothes adds substantially to the degree of difficulty. And very little else happens in the rest of the film. (more…)
Posted on June 18th, 2016 at 8:57 pm. Updated on June 26th, 2016 at 1:57 pm.
» Back Door to Heaven (1939, USA)
pa·thos \?p?-?thäs, -?th?s, -?th?s n. 1. quality in speech, writing, events &c., that excites pity, sympathy, sadness 2. this film. It’s full of it. (more…)
Posted on June 14th, 2016 at 9:55 pm. Updated on June 14th, 2016 at 9:55 pm.
» Cellblock Sisters: Banished Behind Bars (1995, USA)
May Conner (Gail Harris) is 19* and in prison. She’s a Miss Goody Two-Shoes… a little naive when it comes to crime and punishment, and is unused to prison lingo. “They found a second set of finger things.” “Prints,” says her street-wise older sister, April (Annie Wood). “Prints, right.” (more…)
Posted on May 16th, 2016 at 9:59 pm. Updated on July 9th, 2016 at 6:13 pm.
» Hari ng selda: Anak ni baby ama 2 (2002, Philippines)
I haven’t had access to this with subtitles, sadly. And I’m not even sure of what the title means; Tagalog is notoriously tricky. I think it means something like: ‘King of the cell: Son of the baby father’, but it could just as easily be ‘King of the cell: his fling with a little rich kid.’ (more…)
Posted on April 25th, 2016 at 7:57 pm. Updated on April 25th, 2016 at 7:57 pm.
» Riot (2015, USA)
It surely can’t be coincidental that in 2015 we had the release of two prison movies in which a cop whose wife has been killed by a big-time criminal commits a major offence to get into prison to avenge his wife’s murder; the other being Vendetta. Perhaps the same story was pitched to several film-makers, and these two just happened to pick it up… unaware that the other had, too. Anyway, I’m not sure which I like better.. but this certainly wins in the novelty stakes.
Posted on April 19th, 2016 at 9:49 pm. Updated on April 19th, 2016 at 9:52 pm.
» Boys Behind Bars 3 (2015, UK)
The third episode of this trashy ‘cult exploitation franchise’ sees us return to Young Offenders Institution Barker’s Ludge and the unholy alliance between prisoner Darrell (Wade Radford) and pneumatic Wing Governor, Alison Muncher (Honey Bane). Its publicity claims a cult following, but this is as close to unwatchable as you can get; a following of any kind is remarkable. (more…)
Posted on April 11th, 2016 at 9:43 pm. Updated on April 11th, 2016 at 9:53 pm.