Viggo Mortensen’s ’80s Horror Movie ‘Prison’ Deserves a Reappraisal

Many of Hollywood’s most famous and admired actors cut their teeth on cheesy horror movies before ever becoming household names. One especially under-the-radar example is Viggo Mortensen’s early role in Prison (1987). More than a decade before earning international stardom as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the future Oscar nominee portrayed an unassuming but heroic convict who discovers that his prison is being haunted by a vengeful spirit. Despite its 40% Rotten Tomatoes score, this film deserves a second chance, as it features some truly heart-pounding scares, a foreboding atmosphere, and even some disturbingly relevant social commentary.

Before He Was Aragorn, Viggo Mortensen Was in ‘Prison’

The film centers on the doomed re-opening of the Wyoming State Penitentiary after having been closed for over two decades. Shortly after the first inmates arrive, the angry spirit of an executed prisoner from years past begins gruesomely murdering several prisoners and guards. But the prison’s corrupt warden (Lane Smith) blames the inmates and imposes increasingly draconian measures upon them as punishment. However, a quiet but crafty car thief named Burke (Mortensen) and a progressive-minded corrections official named Katherine Walker (Chelsea Field, in the film’s only female role) both begin to suspect that the warden knows more about what’s behind the murders than he lets on.

The character of Burke, with his 1950s-style haircut, anti-authority attitude, and coolly reserved manner, feels like a composite of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967). But, in many ways, Burke also foreshadows Mortensen’s far more iconic role in The Lord of the Rings. Like Aragorn, Burke is selfless and courageous, but also slightly aloof and mysterious. Furthermore, Burke is capable of being tender and soft-spoken in some situations and aggressive and intimidating in others, a duality that Aragon shares.

Most importantly, like Aragorn, Burke’s very presence commands respect and admiration among his fellow inmates, making him the default leader whenever the inmates find themselves in conflict with the guards, the warden, or the vengeful spirit. While Peter Jackson absolutely deserves credit for casting Mortensen in his most well-known role, Prison director Renny Harlin deserves even more credit for casting him as a very similar character 14 years earlier, when Mortensen was a much smaller Hollywood player.

But There Is Far More to This Horror Movie Than Viggo Mortensen

One of the most crucial ingredients to any good horror film is atmosphere. Fortunately, Prison nails that aspect, thanks in large part to the fact that it was filmed at a real abandoned prison, the Wyoming State Penitentiary (where the film itself takes place). The prison’s authentically decrepit appearance gives every interior shot in the film an ominous air, creating the impression that this is a building that should have been left undisturbed. Its creepiness is even more pronounced during the night scenes, with the lighting of cell bars and the jagged shadows of pipes across the walls further emphasizing the malicious presence scouring the prison.

And, of course, being set in a prison, every shot feels intensely claustrophobic, particularly in the individual cells and “the hole,” a block of dark underground cells where misbehaving inmates are sent. The suffocating cinematography constantly reminds the audience that most of the spirit’s potential victims are trapped in confined spaces with no means of escape.

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The death scenes themselves are also impressively done. Relying on a combination of practical effects and excessive gore, these gruesome killings are especially reminiscent of the contemporaneous A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, which shares many of the same cast members as this film (directed by Renny Harlin, who helmed The Dream Master entry in the Krueger franchise). Like the Nightmare films, the murder scenes in Prison feature inanimate objects moving by themselves and violently mutilating the victims’ bodies. These over-the-top sequences feel simultaneously scary and comical, but are immensely memorable and entertaining all the same. And they will certainly appeal to slasher fans who enjoy creatively absurd death scenes.

The Most Horrifying Thing Is the Prison System

The most fascinating aspect of this film is how the supernatural “monster” is not the only threat to the characters. Indeed, the warden repeatedly abuses and exploits the incarcerated men under his watch, and makes no effort to protect them from the malevolent entity trying to kill them. The warden’s cruel and uncaring attitude towards the prisoners mirrors a widespread belief that pervades America to this day, that prison inmates don’t deserve to be protected from harm or treated with dignity. Moreover, the film’s premise itself offers some social commentary.

For instance, the fact that the spirits are victims of capital punishment — meaning the killings are arguably the executioners’ faults to some extent — could be read as an indictment of the death penalty. Additionally, the prisoners are brought to the Penitentiary in the first place because other prisons were full, which calls attention to America’s notorious mass incarceration problem (the United States has 20% of the entire world’s prison population). It’s fair to say that Burke and the other prisoners are not just victims of a vengeful spirit, but also of the dehumanizing prison-industrial system that put them in harm’s way in the first place.

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Although it is far from a perfect film, Prison nevertheless deserves better than the near-universal dismissal it received from critics. With a combination of prescient themes, brilliantly atmospheric cinematography, memorably gruesome sequences, and, of course, an excellent performance by a future Hollywood star, it has a little something for everyone to enjoy. Though the film is not available on streaming, it was fortunately released on Blu-Ray by Shout! Factory in 2013 (and can be found online with some digging).

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A convict is executed via electric chair for a murder he did not commit n later the prison is closed. The dead convict’s soul returns from the afterlife to take revenge but goes on a killing spree when the prison is reopened after thirty years.

Release Date

December 8, 1987

Runtime

102 Minutes

Cast

Lane Smith
, Viggo Mortensen
, Chelsea Field
, Lincoln Kilpatrick
, Tom Everett

Distributor(s)

Empire Pictures

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