Lemme just say that whatever Renny Harlin is selling with this Elm Street-esque prison jam I’m most certainly buying—wrapped in barbed wire deaths, melted flesh searing off the bones, a crazy death involving pipes & metal engulfing a body like growing vines, a great ‘mangled corpse falling thru the ceiling splattering a ton of blood everywhere’ moment, and Lane Smith being a scumbag.I watched this last year for the knew nothing about this movie going in other than Renny Harlin directed it. No “I remember this from the video store!” anecdotes, no “I don’t now how I’ve managed not to see this yet!” comments I so frequently overuse yada yada. None of that, no nostalgia— I went in blind with the Blu-ray I’ve owned for a few years while it collected dust in in P section of my collection—and I kinda loved it.Great camera work from famed DP Mac Ahlberg and John Carl Buechler's special effects really pump these supernatural themed deaths to the next level and the prison they filmed this in was ripe with atmosphere—almost gothic at times, with some fun death sequences that could have easily ended up in a late 80’s NOES sequel. The cast turn in some solid performances as well, particularly Lane Smith and his mouth—in a rage filled sentence he drools all over himself and I couldn’t be happier at how serious he played this role. The blu looked crisp and I totally see why Harlin got the elm street 4 gig. Groundbreaking? Not really. Fun? Absolutely! Just the kind of ‘dead prisoner returns to exact revenge’ jam I was looking for. Despite the usual Renny Harlin issues I have, all the pieces added up for me and that finale was well worth the price of admission.
