Top 100 gg Prison Movies
by citizengg | created - 10 Dec 2013 | updated - 02 Oct 2016 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
R | 142 min | Drama
Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler
Votes: 2,887,758 | Gross: $28.34M
2. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
GP | 127 min | Crime, Drama
A laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D. Cannon
Votes: 188,490 | Gross: $16.22M
3. Short Eyes (1977)
R | 100 min | Drama
A child molester sent to prison finds that criminals exact harsher justice than society.
Director: Robert M. Young | Stars: Bruce Davison, José Pérez, Nathan George, Don Blakely
Votes: 1,561
4. Papillon (1973)
R | 151 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon
Votes: 138,349 | Gross: $53.27M
5. Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Not Rated | 147 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand
Votes: 19,292
6. The Hole (1960)
Not Rated | 131 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Distrust and uncertainty arise when four long-term inmates cautiously induct a new prisoner into their elaborate prison-break scheme.
Director: Jacques Becker | Stars: André Bervil, Jean Keraudy, Michel Constantin, Philippe Leroy
Votes: 20,361 | Gross: $0.03M
7. Midnight Express (1978)
R | 121 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli
Votes: 88,222 | Gross: $35.00M
8. In the Name of the Father (1993)
R | 133 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Alison Crosbie, Philip King
Votes: 187,060 | Gross: $25.01M
9. Brute Force (1947)
Passed | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
At a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo
Votes: 11,536
10. Bad Boys (1983)
R | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Chicago crime kid Mick O'Brien is sent to reform school after accidentally killing a rival's kid brother.
Director: Rick Rosenthal | Stars: Sean Penn, Reni Santoni, Jim Moody, Eric Gurry
Votes: 17,059 | Gross: $9.20M
11. Scum (1979)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama
An uncompromising story of life in a British juvenile offender institution in the '70s.
Director: Alan Clarke | Stars: Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Julian Firth, John Blundell
Votes: 13,077
12. Breath (2007)
84 min | Drama
A love story involving a convicted prisoner who "slowly falls for a woman who decorates his prison cell".
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Chang Chen, Kang In-hyung, Park Ji-ah, Ha Jung-woo
Votes: 5,109
13. Shoeshine (1946)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama
Two shoeshine boys in postwar Rome, Italy save up to buy a horse, but their involvement as dupes in a burglary lands them in juvenile prison; the experience take a devastating toll on their friendship.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Rinaldo Smordoni, Franco Interlenghi, Annielo Mele, Bruno Ortensi
Votes: 8,110
14. The Green Mile (1999)
R | 189 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A tale set on death row, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the lead guard, Paul Edgecombe, recognizes John's gift, he tries to help stave off the condemned man's execution.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt
Votes: 1,406,834 | Gross: $136.80M
15. Caged (1950)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up?
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, Hope Emerson
Votes: 4,704
16. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Passed | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Wrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Noel Francis
Votes: 14,433 | Gross: $1.42M
17. The Magdalene Sisters (2002)
R | 114 min | Drama
Three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.
Director: Peter Mullan | Stars: Eileen Walsh, Dorothy Duffy, Nora-Jane Noone, Anne-Marie Duff
Votes: 28,459 | Gross: $4.89M
18. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
R | 120 min | Drama
A gay man and a political prisoner are together in a prison. The gay man narrates the stories of two fake movies and his own life.
Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sonia Braga, José Lewgoy
Votes: 17,346 | Gross: $17.04M
19. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
PG | 112 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Jack Thibeau
Votes: 147,397 | Gross: $43.00M
20. A Prophet (2009)
R | 155 min | Crime, Drama
A delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb
Votes: 102,173 | Gross: $2.08M
21. R (2010)
Unrated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
The R of the title stands for the young protagonist, Rune, fearlessly played by Pilou Asbæk. Imprisoned for violent assault, he's a cocky, good-looking young man placed in the hardcore ward... See full summary »
Directors: Tobias Lindholm, Michael Noer | Stars: Pilou Asbæk, Dulfi Al-Jabouri, Roland Møller, Jacob Gredsted
Votes: 5,299
22. Starred Up (2013)
Not Rated | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Eric Love, 19, is locked up in prison. On his first day, he assaults another inmate and several guards. He's offered group therapy and his dad, an inmate as well, tries to talk sense into him. Can he be rehabilitated?
Director: David Mackenzie | Stars: Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend, Sam Spruell
Votes: 48,675 | Gross: $0.03M
23. Hunger (2008)
Not Rated | 96 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Laine Megaw
Votes: 73,540 | Gross: $0.15M
24. The Hill (1965)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, War
In a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Alfred Lynch
Votes: 15,155
25. Brubaker (1980)
R | 131 min | Crime, Drama
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto, Morgan Freeman, Jane Alexander
Votes: 19,436 | Gross: $37.12M
26. Down by Law (1986)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
Votes: 55,278 | Gross: $1.44M
27. Bronson (2008)
R | 92 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A young man who was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter-ego, Charles Bronson.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Tom Hardy, Kelly Adams, Luing Andrews, Katy Barker
Votes: 140,850 | Gross: $0.10M
28. McVicar (1980)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama
John McVicar was a notorious London criminal known as "Public Enemy No. 1" for armed bank robberies. He was captured and imprisoned in a high security facility, but continued attempting escapes.
Director: Tom Clegg | Stars: Roger Daltrey, Adam Faith, Cheryl Campbell, Billy Murray
Votes: 2,357
29. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama, Sport
A young thief takes up long-distance running when he is sent to a borstal.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Michael Redgrave, Tom Courtenay, Avis Bunnage, Alec McCowen
Votes: 9,372
30. A Sense of Freedom (1981)
81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The life and imprisonment of Glasgow hard man and gangster Jimmy Boyle.
Director: John Mackenzie | Stars: David Hayman, Jake D'Arcy, Sean Scanlan, Alex Norton
Votes: 614
31. Chicago (2002)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
Two death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs
Votes: 243,316 | Gross: $170.69M
32. The Experiment (2001)
R | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
For two weeks, 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards in a prison. The "prisoners" have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the "guards" are told to retain order without using physical violence.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel, Oliver Stokowski, Wotan Wilke Möhring
Votes: 96,093 | Gross: $0.14M
33. 46-okunen no koi (2006)
Unrated | 85 min | Drama, Fantasy
A visually stylish tale of two male prisoners bonded by emotion, love and murder.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryûhei Matsuda, Masanobu Andô, Shunsuke Kubozuka, Kiyohiko Shibukawa
Votes: 2,100
34. ...and the Wild Wild Women (1959)
95 min | Drama
A harsh study about the grim realities of life in a female prison environment. The story concerns a young girl sent to prison who experiences the entire prison subculture. The inmates she ... See full summary »
Director: Renato Castellani | Stars: Anna Magnani, Giulietta Masina, Cristina Gaioni, Anita Durante
Votes: 577
35. The Glass House (1972 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
A young guard and a college professor convicted of manslaughter both start their first day in prison.
Director: Tom Gries | Stars: Vic Morrow, Alan Alda, Clu Gulager, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 931
36. The Longest Yard (1974)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad
Votes: 21,424 | Gross: $7.13M
37. Each Dawn I Die (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, George Raft, Jane Bryan, George Bancroft
Votes: 3,732
38. Murder in the First (1995)
R | 122 min | Drama, Thriller
An eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement.
Director: Marc Rocco | Stars: Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 30,666 | Gross: $17.38M
39. The Jericho Mile (1979 TV Movie)
97 min | Crime, Drama, Sport
A prisoner gets a chance to take part in the Olympics.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Peter Strauss, Richard Lawson, Roger E. Mosley, Brian Dennehy
Votes: 2,060
40. King of Devil's Island (2010)
Not Rated | 116 min | Action, Drama
Norwegian winter, early 20th century. On the boys home Bastoy, a new inmate leads the boys to a violent uprising against a brutal regime. How far is he willing to go to attain freedom?
Director: Marius Holst | Stars: Benjamin Helstad, Trond Nilssen, Stellan Skarsgård, Kristoffer Joner
Votes: 19,953 | Gross: $0.01M
41. Maundy Thursday (2006)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, Romance
A suicidal girl started to visit a convicted murderer awaiting execution every Thursday.
Director: Hae-sung Song | Stars: Lee Na-young, Gang Dong-won, Youn Yuh-jung, Kang Shin-il
Votes: 1,487
42. The Wall (1983)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama
Teens in a Turkish prison struggle to survive under hideous conditions.
Director: Yilmaz Güney | Stars: Tuncel Kurtiz, Ayse Emel Mesci Kuray, Malik Berrichi, Nicolas Hossein
Votes: 4,433
43. Stir (1980)
101 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
When a repeat offender returns to a prison after exposing abuses committed by its guards to the press, tensions boil between inmates and staff, culminating in a bloody riot.
Director: Stephen Wallace | Stars: Bryan Brown, Max Phipps, Dennis Miller, Gary Waddell
Votes: 387
44. Doing Time (2002)
93 min | Comedy, Drama
A man serving a sentence in a minimum-security prison. Life in the jail is rigid and organized, eventually leading all of the cell-mates to abandon their individuality.
Director: Yôichi Sai | Stars: Tsutomu Yamazaki, Teruyuki Kagawa, Tomorô Taguchi, Yutaka Matsushige
Votes: 331
45. Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Fed up with the inhumane prison living conditions, a general prison riot breaks out, leading to hostage-taking, a stand-off with the guards and eventual negotiations with the prison administration officials.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon
Votes: 2,426
46. Sex in Chains (1928)
107 min | Drama
A young man is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to a term in prison. There he forms a close relationship with his cellmate and upon his release his wife is concerned as to how prison has changed the man she married.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: William Dieterle, Gunnar Tolnæs, Mary Johnson, Paul Henckels
Votes: 316
47. Against the Wall (1994 TV Movie)
R | 111 min | Action, Drama, History
Based on the true story of the Attica Prison uprising of 1971.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Samuel L. Jackson, Clarence Williams III, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 3,282
48. The Big House (1930)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A convict falls in love with his new cellmate's sister, only to become embroiled in a planned break-out which is certain to have lethal consequences.
Directors: George W. Hill, Ward Wing | Stars: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery
Votes: 2,591
49. Prison on Fire (1987)
R | 98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Inside a Chinese prison two inmates form a friendship and face the difficulty of life on the inside.
Director: Ringo Lam | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Ka-Kui Ho, Roy Cheung
Votes: 3,263
50. Turning to Stone (1985 TV Movie)
100 min | Drama
An innocent girl gets framed by her boyfriend and end up with a seven year sentence on a drug charge. Now she has to survive the brutal world of a women's federal prison.
Director: Eric Till | Stars: Nicky Guadagni, Shirley Douglas, Bernard Behrens, Jackie Richardson
Votes: 54
51. The Quare Fellow (1962)
Not Rated | 85 min | Crime, Drama
In Ireland, a newly hired prison guard has to deal with the realities of prison work and to face the grim issue of death-row executions.
Director: Arthur Dreifuss | Stars: Patrick McGoohan, Sylvia Syms, Walter Macken, Dermot Kelly
Votes: 402
52. Lock Up (1989)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
With only six months left of his sentence, inmate Frank Leone is transferred from a minimum security prison to a maximum security prison by a vindictive warden.
Director: John Flynn | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, John Amos, Sonny Landham
Votes: 46,420 | Gross: $22.10M
53. The Last Castle (2001)
R | 131 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A court-martialed General rallies together twelve hundred inmates to rise against a corrupt and sadistic warden.
Director: Rod Lurie | Stars: Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Burton
Votes: 85,274 | Gross: $18.21M
54. Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing (2006 Video)
R | 98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Sequel to the 2002 film. This time, Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian Jail on trumped-up drug charges.
Director: Isaac Florentine | Stars: Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Ben Cross, Eli Danker
Votes: 39,208
55. Mean Dog Blues (1978)
R | 108 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
When his friend injures a little girl in a small southern town while driving drunk, country singer Paul agrees to state in court he had been driving. But his lawyer betrays him, and he ends... See full summary »
Director: Mel Stuart | Stars: Gregg Henry, Kay Lenz, Scatman Crothers, Tina Louise
Votes: 293
56. Caged Heat (1974)
R | 80 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
In a women's prison, a group of inmates band together to combat the repressive and abusive policies of the crippled female warden and the corrupt prison doctor.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Juanita Brown, Erica Gavin, Roberta Collins, Ella Reid
Votes: 2,987 | Gross: $0.10M
57. Deathwatch (1965)
88 min | Drama
A small-time thief battles with his gay cellmate over a third illiterate, muscular convict.
Director: Vic Morrow | Stars: Leonard Nimoy, Michael Forest, Paul Mazursky, Robert Ellenstein
Votes: 118
58. Dog Pound (2010)
Not Rated | 91 min | Crime, Drama
Three juvenile delinquents are sentenced to a correctional facility where they encounter gang violence, death, and harassment from staff and other inmates.
Director: Kim Chapiron | Stars: Adam Butcher, Shane Kippel, Matthew Morales, Slim Twig
Votes: 13,519
59. Carandiru (2003)
R | 145 min | Crime, Drama
Stories of crime, revenge, love, and friendship at the Carandiru Penitentiary, the largest prison in Latin America.
Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: Enrique Diaz, Wagner Moura, Caio Blat, Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos
Votes: 21,922 | Gross: $0.21M
60. Women's Prison (2002)
106 min | Drama
Spanning 18 years in an Iranian women's prison, this follows two women: the new prison warden, a tough as nails devout Muslim who has served in the army on the Iraqi front, and a young ... See full summary »
Director: Manijeh Hekmat | Stars: Roya Nonahali, Roya Teymourian, Pegah Ahangarani, Golab Adineh
Votes: 1,002
61. Women's Prison (1988)
90 min | Crime, Drama
A young woman about to get married discovers all too late that her spouse has mafia connections, when violence breaks out during her wedding. Caught up in the crossfire Lynn gets arrested and thrown into a women's prison.
Director: David Lam | Stars: Carol 'Do Do' Cheng, Bo-Bo Fung, Patricia Ha, Charine Chan
Votes: 101
62. Leonera (2008)
Not Rated | 113 min | Crime, Drama
An incarcerated woman struggles to raise her son from prison.
Director: Pablo Trapero | Stars: Martina Gusmán, Guadalupe Rébora, Francisco Marquez, Roberto Maciel
Votes: 3,312 | Gross: $0.01M
63. Stir Crazy (1980)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Crime
Set up and wrongfully accused, two best friends are sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. However, no prison cell can keep them locked in a cage.
Director: Sidney Poitier | Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams
Votes: 30,389 | Gross: $101.30M
64. Chained Heat (1983)
R | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Young Carol Henderson ends up in prison where she must learn how to survive in an environment plagued by violence, murder, rape, racism, drugs and staff corruption and brutality.
Director: Paul Nicholas | Stars: Linda Blair, John Vernon, Sybil Danning, Tamara Dobson
Votes: 2,629 | Gross: $6.15M
65. For the Term of His Natural Life (1927)
101 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A convict, wrongfully accused and sent a harsh prison colony, attempts to escape.
Director: Norman Dawn | Stars: George Fisher, Eva Novak, Dunstan Webb, Jessica Harcourt
Votes: 131
66. Caesar Must Die (2012)
Unrated | 77 min | Drama
Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."
Directors: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani | Stars: Cosimo Rega, Salvatore Striano, Giovanni Arcuri, Antonio Frasca
Votes: 6,811
67. House of Numbers (1957)
Approved | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
San Quentin prison inmate Arnie Judlow asks his twin brother Bill and his wife Ruth to assist him in a daring escape plan.
Director: Russell Rouse | Stars: Jack Palance, Harold J. Stone, Edward Platt, Barbara Lang
Votes: 617
68. Hamoni (2010)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama
Jeong-hye gives a birth to a baby boy in the prison. Her and other inmates create a women's choir to compete in the national choir contest, to meet and greet their families and loving ones.
Director: Dae-gyu Kang | Stars: Yunjin Kim, Na Moon-hee, Kang Ye-won, Park Joon-myeon
Votes: 870
69. The Escapist (2008)
Not Rated | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Frank is 14 years into a life sentence when he decides to break out of the London prison to set things right with his ill junkie daughter. He plans an ingenious escape requiring 4 inmates with different skills.
Director: Rupert Wyatt | Stars: Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Joseph Fiennes, Seu Jorge
Votes: 17,398 | Gross: $0.01M
70. Ghosts... of the Civil Dead (1988)
93 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Prison gangs clash in a high-tech security jail where there are no rules.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: David Field, Mike Bishop, Chris DeRose, Kevin Mackey
Votes: 1,959
71. Fortune and Men's Eyes (1971)
R | 102 min | Drama
The young, naive Smitty is sent to prison for six months; Cathy, his girlfriend, watches as he disappears behind the bars and barbed wire. He's assigned a cell with Queenie, a balls-out ... See full summary »
Directors: Harvey Hart, Jules Schwerin | Stars: Wendell Burton, Michael Greer, Zooey Hall, Danny Freedman
Votes: 568 | Gross: $0.18M
72. Convicted (1950)
Passed | 91 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A D.A. becomes the prison warden where he tries to help an inmate he prosecuted, because he believes his sentence was excessive.
Director: Henry Levin | Stars: Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Millard Mitchell, Dorothy Malone
Votes: 1,486
73. Lockdown (2000)
R | 105 min | Drama, Thriller
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.
Director: John Luessenhop | Stars: Richard T. Jones, De'aundre Bonds, Gabriel Casseus, Master P
Votes: 2,734 | Gross: $0.45M
74. Terra Nova (2008)
119 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
This dystopia takes place in the near future. The death penalty has been abolished throughout the world. The prisons are overcrowded. International organizations decide to conduct an experiment.
Director: Aleksandr Melnik | Stars: Konstantin Lavronenko, Andrey Feskov, Marat Basharov, Pavel Sborshchikov
Votes: 2,065
75. Killer: A Journal of Murder (1995)
R | 91 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A prison guard at Leavenworth with lofty ideals and hopes of reform struggles to understand a violent, hateful and conscienceless convict. The result is a written testimonial to a crime that no one could have predicted.
Director: Tim Metcalfe | Stars: James Woods, Robert Sean Leonard, Ellen Greene, Cara Buono
Votes: 2,408 | Gross: $0.07M
76. Death Warrant (1990)
R | 89 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
In a violent and corrupt prison, decorated cop Louis Burke must infiltrate the jail to find answers to a number of inside murders. What he finds is a struggle of life and death tied in to his own past.
Director: Deran Sarafian | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, Cynthia Gibb, George Dickerson
Votes: 20,781 | Gross: $16.85M
77. Felon (2008)
R | 104 min | Crime, Thriller
Locked up for killing an intruder in self-defense, a family man must cope with life in the violent penal system.
Director: Ric Roman Waugh | Stars: Stephen Dorff, Marisol Nichols, Vincent Miller, Anne Archer
Votes: 83,545 | Gross: $0.04M
78. In Hell (2003)
R | 98 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the wardens' entertainment.
Director: Ringo Lam | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lawrence Taylor, Lloyd Battista, Carlos Gómez
Votes: 21,487
79. Animal (2005 Video)
R | 93 min | Drama, Action
A notorious gangster nicknamed "Animal" must reconcile his past in order to make a future for his criminally-minded son.
Director: David J. Burke | Stars: Ving Rhames, Terrence Howard, Chazz Palminteri, Jim Brown
Votes: 2,161
80. Animal Factory (2000)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama
A young man goes to prison and a tough, older convict takes him under his wing as a mentor.
Director: Steve Buscemi | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Edward Furlong, Danny Trejo, Mark Boone Junior
Votes: 14,634 | Gross: $0.04M
81. Prison (1987)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The spirit of a long-dead prisoner returns for revenge, haunting the prison's new governor.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Lane Smith, Viggo Mortensen, Chelsea Field, Lincoln Kilpatrick
Votes: 4,763 | Gross: $0.35M
82. On the Yard (1978)
R | 102 min | Drama
In prison, one prisoner buys some smokes from another. Then he admits he can't pay for it and becomes indebted to him and the interest is rising daily.
Director: Raphael D. Silver | Stars: John Heard, Thomas G. Waites, Mike Kellin, Richard Bright
Votes: 268
83. Greenfingers (2000)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A prison inmate with a green thumb goes on to compete in a national gardening competition. Based on a true story.
Director: Joel Hershman | Stars: Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, David Kelly, Warren Clarke
Votes: 6,546 | Gross: $1.44M
84. Riot (1969)
R | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A riot in a state prison is staged to cover up an escape attempt, during which many inmates and guards are killed. Shot on location at Arizona State Prison.
Director: Buzz Kulik | Stars: Jim Brown, Gene Hackman, Mike Kellin, Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Votes: 657
85. Mean Machine (2001)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A football star jailed for assault leads a group of inmates in a match against prison guards.
Director: Barry Skolnick | Stars: Vinnie Jones, David Kelly, David Hemmings, Ralph Brown
Votes: 41,810 | Gross: $0.09M
86. The Visit (I) (2000)
R | 107 min | Drama
A young man dying in prison brings his family together for a fateful visit, and proceeds to put his life back together.
Director: Jordan Walker-Pearlman | Stars: Obba Babatundé, Rae Dawn Chong, Charmin Lee White, Terrell
Votes: 286 | Gross: $0.19M
87. Attica (1980 TV Movie)
97 min | Drama
The true story of the events leading up to and during the 1971 Attica Correctional Facility riot and the aftermath.
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky | Stars: Henry Darrow, Charles Durning, Joel Fabiani, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 541
88. So Evil, So Young (1961)
77 min | Drama
A young girl is framed for a robbery, and sent to a harsh reform school, where she becomes the target of a vicious warden.
Director: Godfrey Grayson | Stars: Jill Ireland, Ellen Pollock, John Charlesworth, Jocelyn Britton
Votes: 185
89. The Slams (1973)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Everybody is after the money stolen by Hook before he ended up in prison, including the villainous head guard Capt. Stambell.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan | Stars: Jim Brown, Judy Pace, Roland Bob Harris, Paul Harris
Votes: 322 | Gross: $0.26M
90. Jailbait (2004)
R | 90 min | Drama
A young man is sent to prison for 25 years and is taken under the wing of Jake, a lifer with dark intentions.
Director: Brett C. Leonard | Stars: Stephen Adly Guirgis, Michael Pitt, Laila Robins, David Zayas
Votes: 437 | Gross: $0.01M
91. Zonzon (1998)
102 min | Drama
In a French prison, three men are coming to terms with the emotional and physical torment which their incarceration brings them.
Director: Laurent Bouhnik | Stars: Pascal Greggory, Gaël Morel, Jamel Debbouze, Fabienne Babe
Votes: 363
92. Scrubbers (1982)
R | 93 min | Drama
A film in feminist reading of the vulgar genre of the 'women's prison film', which without voyeurism tells of violence among women and their relationships with each other.
Director: Mai Zetterling | Stars: Amanda York, Chrissie Cotterill, Elizabeth Edmonds, Kate Ingram
Votes: 567
93. In Your Hands (2004)
101 min | Drama
Anna begins as a rookie chaplain in a women's prison and meets an inmate who can perform miracles and cure drug addicts with a touch. She says Anna is pregnant and a test confirms it. But not all is well.
Director: Annette K. Olesen | Stars: Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Trine Dyrholm, Nicolaj Kopernikus, Sonja Richter
Votes: 1,194
94. Cell 211 (2009)
113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.
Director: Daniel Monzón | Stars: Luis Tosar, Alberto Ammann, Antonio Resines, Manuel Morón
Votes: 70,763
95. The Boys of Cellblock Q (1992 Video)
Unrated | 82 min | Comedy, Drama
Set within the bowels of the Sunnyvale Labor Farm, the prisoners and staff help a young newbie learn the ins and outs of the prison community.
Director: Alan Daniels | Stars: Andrew Addams, Lewis Alante, Slade Burrus, Larry Maraviglia
Votes: 116
96. Prison Song (2001)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama
A young man lives and learns while growing up on the street and in and out of correctional facilities.
Director: Darnell Martin | Stars: Danny Hoch, Elvis Costello, Q-Tip, Eric McCollum
Votes: 696
97. The Pot Carriers (1962)
84 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
James Rainbow is a first time offender sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. Redband, a trusty and Mouse, a diminutive housebreaker take him under their wing.
Director: Peter Graham Scott | Stars: Ronald Fraser, Paul Massie, Carole Lesley, Dennis Price
Votes: 127
98. 99 Women (1969)
Unrated | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A new female inmate at an island prison is abused by fellow convicts and staff, and her disillusionment with the new warden prompts her to join in an attempted breakout and mutiny.
Directors: Jesús Franco, Bruno Mattei | Stars: Maria Schell, Luciana Paluzzi, Mercedes McCambridge, Herbert Lom
Votes: 1,593
99. Chained Heat 2 (1993)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
An innocent woman is sent to a Czech prison, where the sadistic warden and guards rape and perform bizarre sex acts on the prisoners.
Director: Lloyd A. Simandl | Stars: Brigitte Nielsen, Paul Koslo, Kimberley Kates, Kari Whitman
Votes: 1,485
100. Star Slammer (1986)
R | 86 min | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Two women who have been unjustly confined to a prison planet plot their escape, all the while having to put up with lesbian guards, crazed wardens and mutant rodents.
Director: Fred Olen Ray | Stars: Sandy Brooke, Suzy Stokey, Ross Hagen, Marya Gant
Votes: 1,333
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