» Jailbait (2013, USA)
There is not much that can be said for this other than that it is a singularly distasteful, exploitative film. (more…)
Posted on June 8th, 2014 at 9:41 pm. Updated on June 8th, 2014 at 9:43 pm.
The Stabbing
» Convict (2014, Australia)
When this opened where I live, it opened, I think, for just one session in one cinema. That might say as much as needs to be said. (more…)
Posted on April 14th, 2014 at 10:56 pm. Updated on April 29th, 2015 at 10:34 pm.
» Cage Without a Key (1975, USA)
There are many men of my generation who will remember Susan Dey as the only reason for watching The Partridge Family. My memory of Laurie Partridge has dulled considerably, but it could well be her who has strayed into this TV movie, and into this TV prison, by mistake.
Posted on January 27th, 2014 at 8:39 am. Updated on January 27th, 2014 at 8:45 am.
» Revolt in the Big House (1958, USA)
This little known film noir is a prison movie in the classic mould, and features one of the coldest, most heartless prison bad guys going around. (more…)
Posted on January 1st, 2014 at 9:54 am. Updated on January 1st, 2014 at 9:55 am.
» Khang Paed / Butterfly in Grey (2002, Thailand)
There is no shortage of messages here. “Prison is a state of mind; the walls, the bars, the locks, the barbed wire,” is the upfront one, direct from director Sananjit Bangsapan. But then the leading lady boasts that ‘Stoicism overcomes all’, and others’ stories remind us that ‘One doesn’t have to be in prison to be imprisoned’. Or for life to be tough, for that matter. And finally we’re cautioned, by one who should know, that ‘Sex causes trouble’. So many messages! So little consequence. (more…)
Posted on November 13th, 2013 at 8:39 pm. Updated on August 28th, 2019 at 8:01 pm.
» Law Abiding Citizen (2009, USA)
Revenge is a dish best served cold, it is said. Or in this case, a banquet.
(more…)
Posted on October 17th, 2013 at 9:33 pm. Updated on October 17th, 2013 at 9:33 pm.
» 186 Dollars to Freedom (2012, USA / Peru)
There have been prisoners in unwelcoming foreign jails before – in Russia (In Hell, 2003), Thailand (Brokedown Palace, 1999), Mexico (Get the Gringo, 2012), Morocco (Hell in Tangier, 2006), and of course Turkey (Midnight Express, 1978), amongst others. And now we have a well-to-do young American battling a corrupt justice system while languishing in the El Sexto Prison in Lima, Peru – the site of several real-life riots in the early ’80s (including one in 1981 in which 27 prisoners died in a gang-related fight, and one in 1984 in which 24 prisoners died) before it was closed in 1986. It’s based on the true story of Monty Fisher, who wrote the script. (more…)
Posted on June 9th, 2013 at 9:48 pm. Updated on June 16th, 2013 at 2:39 pm.
» 33 Postcards (2011, Australia / China)
So… this is a film “inspired by real life stories”, according to its director. Presumably, then, it doesn’t rely on a single real life story of a naive young Chinese girl who travels to Australia and innocently gets involved in a car rebirthing racket while supporting her long-time sponsor, whom she discovers is in jail. It does, however, allow the possibility that it is inspired by, say, four totally unconnected real life stories: one of a Chinese girl, one of a sponsor, another of a stolen car outfit and yet another of a man in jail. (more…)
Posted on June 2nd, 2013 at 12:02 am. Updated on June 2nd, 2013 at 12:02 am.
» Dios te bendiga hijo mío Santa Martha Acatitla Penitenciaria (2007, Mexico)
The film’s title translates as ‘God bless you my son – St Martha Acatitla Prison’. It ought not be confused with Bless You, Prison (2002); though both are bleak and revel in the harshness of prison life, this one doesn’t offer much hope of a way out. (more…)
Posted on May 26th, 2013 at 7:27 pm. Updated on June 2nd, 2013 at 12:23 pm.
» K-11 (2012, USA)
K-11 sounded to me like a submarine, or a lubricant. I hadn’t realised that it is a real segregated housing option for gay and transsexual men at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, around which this drama is based. Loosely based, and with extra salaciousness, one hopes.
Posted on May 20th, 2013 at 10:46 pm. Updated on May 20th, 2013 at 10:47 pm.