Best Prison movies of 1980s

Actors : Howard Knight, William J. Kulzer, Melanie Coll, Judi Trevor,
Directors : Eric Louzil,

A former female cop is framed by corrupt police, acting in collusion with the local judge, and has to fight her way out of the pen, alone, against tough inmates, and the people in charge.

Actors : T.J. Glenn, Mary Ann Schacht, Joe Niola, Joseph Eero,
Directors : W.J. Parolini,

After 16 years in prison, Igor and his gang are out and bent on taking revenge on the town that sent them up.

Actors : Nikolai Sotirov, Vania Tzvetkova, Ivan Ivanov, Valcho Kamarashev,
Directors : Nikola Rudarov,

This is a psychological whodunit. The action is tense and there are many ups and downs. Vas, a young militiaman, has to pose as a ex-prisoner and infiltrate an international gang of ...

Actors : Edward Asner, Rene Auberjonois, Jim Metzler, Susan Tyrrell,
Directors : Alan Shapiro,

A counterfeiter finds the true meaning of the holidays.

Actors : Gary McCleery, Trini Alvarado, Paul Benedict, James Coco,
Directors : Waldemar Korzeniowsky,

A psychologist, a psychiatrist and a prison warden open up a long-closed prison, unaware that the ghost of an electrocuted convict haunts it.

Actors : Linda Jones, Alessandro Freyberger, Rita Silva, Ajita Wilson,
Directors : Gianni Siragusa,

Julia, a famous physician, infiltrates a prison in an attempt to find a witness to her sister's killing, but instead she becomes the victim of a sadistic warden's sexual brutality.

Actors : Richard Harris, Lindsay Wagner, James Coburn, Justin Henry,
Directors : Alan Gibson,

Threatened with recapture after a prison escape, Martin Stechert grabs a twelve-year-old as hostage. He proves to be named Martin, too, a quiet "good little boy" always obeying the rules, ...

Actors : John Laughlin, Michael Paré, Richard Farnsworth, Lee Purcell,
Directors : Conrad E. Palmisano,

In this sci-fi/western film set two hundred years from now, a bank robber, Grange is captured and sentenced to the penal colony on the mining planet Proxima Centauri 3 where he meets ...

Actors : Akiko Kana, Riki Takeuchi, Shima Iwashita, Rino Katase,
Directors : Hideo Gosha,

While her husband is in prison doing time, Tamaki, the wife of a yakuza capo, runs her spouse's gang with an iron hand. Meanwhile, Makoto, her younger sister, marries a member of a rival ...

Actors : Kin Shriner, Karen Chase, Sandy Martin, Roberta Collins,
Directors : Bruce Logan,

A sexy stuntwoman gets herself thrown into prison to avenge the death of her sister.

Actors : Sally Yeh, Joyce H. Cheng, Hui-Shan Yang, Brigitte Lin,
Directors : Yen-Ping Chu,

A group of women with various criminal skills are thrown into prison during World War 2. They escape and proceed to head off to destroy a chemical lab in a well fortified valley.

Actors : Ketevan Kiknadze, Gia Burjanadze, Giorgi Khobua, Otar Megvinetukhutsesi,
Directors : Giga Lortkipanidze,

Zaza Nakashidze is imprisoned for a murder he never committed. While in jail he tries to prove his innocence and with other prisoners, real murderers and thieves, dreams of freedom.

Actors : Mammootty, Sumalatha, Urvashi, Babu Namboothiri,
Directors : Joshi,

Ravi Varma, who is sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife, tells his story to his wife's sister, a news reporter, about the true story of what happened.

Actors : James Young, John Panozzo, Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw,

At the Paradise Theater, Jonathan Chance from the Music Underground, and Robert Kilroy, who broke out of prison to see Chance, meet, and Kilroy relates the events of the final concert at the Paradise, the night he was framed for murder.

Actors : Raza Murad, Shashi Kapoor, Neelam Kothari, Govinda,
Directors : R.P. Swamy,

Honest, hardworking, and diligent Police Inspector Vikram, gets his just reward by being arrested for possesion of drugs. His mother gets a shock, and passes away instantly. Vikram is then ...

Actors : Iraj Ghaderi, Saeed Rad, Naser Malek Motiee, Mohamad Ali Fardin,
Directors : Iraj Ghaderi,

During Iranian revolution some prisoners manage to escape the prison. In a border village they meet a man Yaqub who wants to convince them not to escape. They first mocking at him not ...

Actors : Costas Bakalis, Lazaros Andriotis, Vera Krouska, Mihalis Giannatos,
Directors : Adonis Lykouresis,

Three inmates of a prison escape and seize the archaeological museum of a provincial town shortly before its official inauguration, threatening to destroy the statues if their demands are ...

Actors : Thierry Frémont, André Dussollier, Valérie Kaprisky, Steve Kalfa,
Directors : José Giovanni,

Two criminals who enrolled in the German police to get out of prison seize an opportunity after the War to redeem themselves. The elder of the two, Mad Bosco, dies at the beginning of their...

Actors : Christian Falk, Joakim Thåström, Jacqueline Ramel, Peter Stormare,
Directors : Lárus Ýmir Óskarsson,

Two brothers meet again after a few years away from each other. Jerry has been in prison for petty crimes but has now decided to try to live honestly and build a family. Kiljan is a dreamer who lives a life of a bohemian.

Actors : Logan Clarke, Kirstie Alley, John LaMotta, Marvin Flint,
Directors : Sam Firstenberg,

An ex-convict, after spending six years in prison, tries to re-establish a relationship with the son he hasn't seen in all that time.