Prison (1987 film)

Prison
File:Prison1988film.jpg Theatrical release Poster
Directed by	Renny Harlin
Produced by	Charles Band Irwin Yablans
Written by	Irwin Yablans C. Courtney Joyner
Starring	Lane Smith Viggo Mortensen Chelsea Field Lincoln Kilpatrick André De Shields
Music by	Richard Band Christopher L. Stone
Cinematography	Mac Ahlberg
Edited by	Andy Horvitch
Distributed by	Empire Pictures
Release dates	March 4, 1988 (1988-03-04)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United states
Language	English
Budget	$4,000,000
Box office	$354,704 (US)

Prison is a 1987 horror film starring Viggo Mortensen. It was filmed at the Old State Prison in Rawlins, Wyoming, with many of its residents on the cast and crew.

Plot

In 1964, inmate Charlie Forsythe swallowed 60,000 volts of electricity for a murder he did not commit.

When Creedmore Prison is reopened after thirty years, it has not been standing empty. Charlie Forsythe is back – still charged with electric heat. Waiting for Eaton Sharpe (Lane Smith) – the man who stood by as Forsythe rode the electric chair.

Forsythe quickly makes up for lost time as his vengeance rises to a fever pitch of violent fury. Burke (Viggo Mortensen) and the other inmates soon realize that they will all be slaughtered unless Forsythe is allowed to repay his long-standing debt. With the lives of Creedmore in the balance, Sharpe and Forsythe are finally brought face-to-rotting-face in a duel that will pit Forsythe's supernatural rage against Sharpe's bloodthirsty instinct for survival.

Production

The execution chamber shown in the film is actually the real Rawlins prison gas chamber. The chamber was never used for electrocutions in real life.

Cast

Prison Staff

• Chelsea Field as Katherine Walker
• Lane Smith as Warden Eaton Sharpe
• Arlen Dean Snyder as Captain Carl Horton
• Hal Landon Jr. as Wallace
• Matt Kanen as Johnson

Prisoners

• Viggo Mortensen as Burke/Charlie Forsythe
• Lincoln Kilpatrick as Cresus
• Tom Everett as Rabbitt
• Ivan Kane as Joe 'Lasagna' Lazano
• André DeShields as Sandor
• Tommy Lister as Tiny
• Stephen Little as 'Rhino' Reynolds
• Mickey Yablans as Brian Young
• Larry Jenkins as Hershey
• Kane Hodder as Charlie Forsythe
• Joseph Garcia as inmate getting hair cut

Release

The film was given a limited theatrical release in the United States by the Eden Distributing Company in March 1988. It grossed $354,704 at the box office.

The film was released in 1988 on VHS by New World Pictures. It had originally been released on DVD overseas, but not in the United States, save for bootlegs. However, on February 19, 2013, Shout! Factory released the first official Blu-ray Disc and DVD and the first through their new subdivision Scream Factory.

References in popular culture

Canadian industrial band Skinny Puppy sampled the lines "I summon thee, creature of darkness" and "Come forth and show yourself!" from the film in their 1989 song "Hexonxonx".

External links

• Prison at IMDb
• Prison at AllMovie
• Prison at Rotten Tomatoes