Best Prison movies of 1980s

Actors : Gary Oldman, Pamela Reed, Dennis Hopper, Frances McDormand,
Directors : Mick Jackson,

In 1955 Florida, a Korean vet has a breakdown and is incarcerated in a "maximum security" mental health prison, where patients are abused.

Actors : Joe Don Baker, Rossano Brazzi, Patrizia Pellegrino, Venantino Venantini,
Directors : Greydon Clark,

Homicidal Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo is tasked with escorting a mobster to Malta; when the prisoner escapes, Geronimo goes rogue to catch him.

Actors : Mel Gibson, Matthew Modine, Edward Herrmann, Diane Keaton,
Directors : Gillian Armstrong,

Peter Soffel is the stuffy warden of a remote American prison around the turn of the century. His wife, Kate, finds herself attracted to prisoner Ed Biddle. She abandons her husband and ...

Actors : Daniel Valdez, Charles Aidman, Tyne Daly, Edward James Olmos,
Directors : Luis Valdez,

A kind of musical accompanying the story of the early 1940's and the effect that the "zoot suit" (a man's suit of long jacket and pegged pants, always worn with a long keychain that looped ...

Actors : Adam Ferency, Krystyna Janda, Agnieszka Holland, Janusz Gajos,
Directors : Ryszard Bugajski,

Tonia goes out drinking. She wakes up in prison, not having a clue why she's there. She is tortured to encourage her to confess to a crime she is not aware of.

Actors : Leonard Pietraszak, Witold Pyrkosz, Jan Machulski, Ewa Szykulska,
Directors : Juliusz Machulski,

Set in Warsaw in 1930's. After six years in jail, framed for bank robbery by an accomplice, the legendary Kwinto has only revenge on his mind. He is a safecracker in the old style, a thief ...

Actors : Lauren Bacall, John Gielgud, Peter Ustinov, Carrie Fisher,
Directors : Michael Winner,

When a former prison wardress who dominates the lives of her three adult stepchildren and her daughter is found dead at an archaeological dig near the Dead Sea, there are a great many suspects.

Actors : Bert Remsen, Gary Busey, Seymour Cassel, Yaphet Kotto,
Directors : Richard C. Sarafian,

Returning home from prison, a Vietnam War veteran sets out to clean up his hometown which has come under the control of a violent motorcycle gang.

Actors : Nick Nolte, Debra Winger, Will Patton, Judith Ivey,
Directors : Karel Reisz,

A seeming good Samaritan (Debra Winger) hires a private detective (Nolte) to prove a teen sitting in prison on a murder charge is innocent. His investigation discovers deep corruption in a ...

Actors : Gino Samil, Magnus Nilsson, Björn Skifs, Johan Ulveson,
Directors : Jonas Frick,

Conny is a chemistry teacher who is framed for drugpossesion. Unable to prove his innocence he ends up in prison. When he finds a secret exit some inmates "persuades" him to participate in ...

Actors : Ned Manning, Wilbur Wilde, Natalie McCurry, Peter Whitford,
Directors : Brian Trenchard-Smith,

In the near future, a teenage couple are trapped in a drive-in theater which has become a concentration camp for social outcasts. The inmates are treated to drugs, exploitation films, junk food, and new wave music.

Actors : Roy Cheung, Ka-Kui Ho, Yun-Fat Chow, Tony Ka Fai Leung,
Directors : Ringo Lam,

Inside a Chinese prison two inmates form a friendship and face the difficulty of life on the inside.

Actors : Nick Nolte, Rita Taggart, Ernie Hudson, Mark Rolston,
Directors : John D. Hancock,

A San Quentin inmate, sentenced to life without parole, writes a play that catches the interest of a reporter.

Actors : Anatoliy Papanov, Nina Usatova, Valeriy Priyomykhov, Viktor Stepanov,
Directors : Aleksandr Proshkin,

After the general Soviet gulag amnesty of 1953 former political inmates Sergei and Nikolai arrive in a remote Siberian village where 8 pardoned common criminals terrorize the inhabitants.

Actors : Billy Murray, Adam Faith, Cheryl Campbell, Roger Daltrey,
Directors : Tom Clegg,

'John McVicar' was a London Bad Boy. He graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest ...

Actors : Mike Bishop, David Field, Chris DeRose, Kevin Mackey,
Directors : John Hillcoat,

Prison gangs clash in a high-tech security jail where there are no rules.

Actors : Dilip Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah, Nutan,
Directors : Subhash Ghai,

The PSO is a British oriented group who wants to take control of India. When senior police inspector Vishwa Pratap Singh arrests there leader Dr. Michael Dang the authorities blast the jail...

Actors : Michel Galabru, Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Yves Montand,
Directors : Alain Corneau,

Two men break out of prison; a rival gang ambushes them. One is mortally wounded and tells the other, Mickey, to take him to the estate of a retired robber, Noel, who lives in comfort with ...

Actors : J.J. Cohen, Jon Polito, Virginia Madsen, Craig Sheffer,
Directors : Duncan Gibbins,

A young woman from a Catholic school and a young man from a nearby prison camp fall in love and must run away together to escape the law, the church and their parents.

Actors : Laura del Sol, Leo Gullotta, Ben Gazzara, Marzio Honorato,
Directors : Giuseppe Tornatore,

Vaguely inspired to the real story of boss of the Camorra's bosses Raffaele Cutolo, this is the story of the criminal career of "Il professore" (the professor). He is in prison, and by ...