Harlin's first theatrical effort quickly establishes his garish stylistics choices such as a POV tracking shot to the electrical chair. It also adheres to his sound-and-fury-signifying-nothing sensibilities wherein the inmates are besieged by a barrage of loud pyrotechnics without a plausible reason since the ghost's
only objective is murdering the newly appointed warden. It's all swiftly paced and tautly photographed, but the midsection is a sluggish going-through-the-motions initiation into penitentiary life such as rivalries, riots and sage advice about having "the face of a lifer". But like the 'Final Destination' movies, it's arduous to be frightened by an incorporeal Grim Reaper firing a gun turret and wrapping razor wires around a sadistic guard. 'Prison' retains Harlin's whizz-bang shepherding, but it's a vapid, spineless revenge story with corridors that imitatively resemble Freddy Krueger's boiler room.
October 29, 2011
