Best Prison movies of 1980s

Actors : Raul Julia, Teri Garr, Griffin O'Neal, Desi Arnaz,
Directors : Caleb Deschanel,

The young and self-confident Danny blufs at the local police-station that he will escape out of prison within one hour. What follows is a flashback about his childhood with his uncle and ...

Actors : Ismaila Cissé, Ababacar Sy Cissé, Sidiki Bakaba, Hamed Camara,

In this semi-autobiographical film, black soldiers help to defend France, but are detained in prison camp before being repatriated home.

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 ...

Actors : Nick Tate, Edward Fox, Timothy Bottoms, George Takei,
Directors : Andrew V. McLaglen,

A group of war prisoners from the Kwai bridge building camp undertake a harsh journey to Japan.

Actors : Christiane Jean, Gérard Lanvin, Bernard Giraudeau, Maurice Barrier,
Directors : Patrice Leconte,

During a routine transfer of prisoners from one jail to another, an accused cop killer, Paul Brandon, is temporarily chained to a con with only a year left to serve, Stéphane Carella. Paul ...

Actors : Susú Pecoraro, Philippe Léotard, Miguel Ángel Solá, Lito Cruz,
Directors : Fernando E. Solanas,

The movie starts while Floreal, the main protagonist, was being released from the prison when the military coup ended in 1983. He is estranged to his former life because of his last few ...

Actors : Paul Le Mat, John Edwin Shaw, Ken Wright, Michael Moriarty,
Directors : Lionel Chetwynd,

A drama focusing on the suffering, torture, and brutal treatment the American P.O.W.s had to deal with daily while in North Vietnam's Hoa Lo Prison, the most infamous P.O.W. camp in Hanoi. ...

Actors : Márcia Fraga, Danielle Ferrite, Neide Ribeiro, Maria Stella Splendore,
Directors : Oswaldo de Oliveira,

In a prison, women rebel against the guards' sadism and sexual abuse and decide to run away. Some manage to escape and are chased by the Police.

Actors : Anthony Zerbe, Richard Roundtree, Tom Skerritt, Lisa Eichhorn,
Directors : Eric Karson,

The commander of an Air Force camp simulates prisoner-of-war conditions for realistic training goes too far, creating all too real torture situations. He preys on the only woman in the experiment.

Actors : Martha Plimpton, Tommy Lee Jones, Brian Dennehy, Shawn Smith,
Directors : Thomas Rickman,

After serving time for a theft he didn't commit, all Billy wants to do is to reconnect with his daughter. However, some loose ends, like the whereabouts of the stolen loot, just won't let him go.

Actors : Raj Babbar, Farooq Shaikh, Rekha, Naseeruddin Shah,
Directors : Muzaffar Ali,

In Faizabad, British India, Daroga Dilawar is sentenced to several years in prison after Amiran's dad testifies against him. After his discharge around 1840, he extracts his vengeance by ...

Actors : John Schneider, Lisa Dunsheath, Kirk Douglas, Lee Purcell,
Directors : Jeff Kanew,

A young man, harshly sentenced for a few minor infractions, escapes from a prison in Huntsville Texas and flees to Laredo, Texas, where he hopes to cross into Mexico for a reunion with his wife and small son.

Actors : François Périer, Pierre Mondy, Anne Parillaud, Alain Delon,

Jacques Darnay (A. Delon) is caught and convicted for stealing diamonds and murder of jeweler. Although he was not guilty, the prison has served eight years. At that time, the jewels are ...

Actors : Sylvia Kristel, William Ostrander, Sue Kiel, Linda Blair,

An American woman visiting her fiancée in West Germany is caught up with a defecting spy and captured by those in the East. After brutal interrogation she is placed in a prison along with ...

Actors : Maria Romano, Laura Gemser, Ursula Flores, Gabriele Tinti,
Directors : Bruno Mattei,

Emanuelle, a reporter, comes just a little too close to exposing a corrupt official, and is sent to prison on trumped-up charges. In the prison, the inmates are constantly humiliated and ...

Actors : Brigitte Fossey, Patrick Dewaere, Yves Robert, Jacques Dufilho,
Directors : Claude Sautet,

Bruno is released from prison. He looks for a job and tries to start a new life. His first stop is at his father's apartment.

Actors : Dino Paskas, Dana Lis Mason, Dennis Cole, Anthony Franciosa,
Directors : John Saxon,

A renegade federal agent uses a new drug to create an army of unbeatable warriors.

Actors : Haldun Ergüvenç, Müjde Ar, Tarik Tarcan, Ayse Demirel,
Directors : Yavuz Turgul,

A victim of a forced marriage who has stabbed her husband finishes her sentence. When she is released from the prison she starts working at a factory under harsh conditions. Soon a poet falls for her, and gives her a new hope in love.

Actors : Gregory Scott Cummins, Elizabeth Hicks, Sydney Coale, Kascha,
Directors : Bill Milling,

Discontent leads to a daring escape plan in a women's prison where the inmates are all lingerie clad models and the lesbian warden demands unusual favours for early parole.

Actors : Beano, Darwyn Carson, John McCafferty, Robyn Blythe,
Directors : Mark Pirro,

Chuck Toedan's the host of a gameshow featuring death row convicts competeing in life-or-death contests in hopes of cheating the executioner or, at the very least, winning some nice prizes ...