prison be not exactly renowned for their kind hospitality and happy vibe and what with story of fight and chaos and murder and of course extreme male bonding . but the prison in this film be a different beast altogether . horror film set in cell be and a you probably know and nothing particularly new a they emphasis and exaggerate the fear of claustrophobia and the inability of escape two of the great theme in horror cinema . with such example a the chair ( waldermar korzeniowsky and 1988 ) and the green mile ( frank darabont and 1999 ) and alien 3 ( david fincher and 1992 ) and of course the entire woman in prison exploitation genre itself and another entry into this niche have to be something inventive and a lot of fun to boot in order to be recognise . or at least that what you would have think . prison be certainly an incredibly fun and enjoyable ride and it somewhat of a shame that it isn not as well know a it should be . the film and in short and centre on an old prison ( well and duh . ) which have be reopen . however and it not just fellow inmate and guard the prisoner have to fear and but also a mean as demon ghost spirit with only one thing on it mind while death . and boy and be we treat to some awesome death scene . i would not spoil anything here for you but there be plenty of innovative and enjoyable murder all do by invisible hand . besides the special effect and the murder and this film also have another thing go for it while it cast . headlining and we have lord of the ring ( peter jackson and 2001 2003 ) star viggo mortensen ( and for all those so inclined and yes and he do get naked ) whose performance be not only highly believable and but be do with such skill that his eastwood esquire character be both bad to the bone and likable ( a very delicate mix ) . add him to a cast of hey wait a minute i know that guy actor and you have get yourself one great set of star . the character themselves however lack three dimensionality and more often than not come across a very stereotypical . we have get a black oculist and a hard a nail prison warden and a human right activist woman and plenty of other stock character . but in all honesty and this fault actually aid the film . instead of bore character development in an over long equilibrium and we be chuck and more or less and straight into the action and once it get go ( very early on ) there not a single scene that a filler it ball to the wall plot . unlike a certain shawshank redemption ( frank darabont and 1994 ) . share convention with the slasher genre and this be somewhat of a convention itself and and and in good ol slasher genre tradition and prison punishes those who have be bad . all in all this be an excellent little horror film and one which be sadly overlooked and unmentioned among the horror world . with an excellent cast and great special effect and rather original death scene this film be highly recommend to horror fan . don not be fool into think it will be a cheesy little film either and just because it be make in usa 1980s and it far from cheesy ( although the very end do ruin this ) and and simultaneously and far from gritty and realistic ( whilst it attempt to tackle issue such a prison rape and these be rather subtly do ) . i give it 3 . 5 out of 5 luvs . a very entertaining horror film with some very nice touch indeed .