Prison Films:

1. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)
2. White Heat (1949)
3. A Man Escaped (1956)
4. Brute Force (1947)
5. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
6. Scum (1979)
7. The Green Mile (1999)
8. Das Experiment (2001)
9. Bronson (2008)
10. Turkey Shoot (1982)

11. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1973)
12. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)
13. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973)
14. Chicken Run (2000)
15. Alien³ (1992)
16. Escape from New York (1981)
17. Ghosts of the Civil Dead (1988)
18. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
19. American History X (1998)
20. Malefique (2002)

Great lists. :clap:

Some Favourites

1. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973)
2. I Was a Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
3. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
4. Brute Force (1947)
5. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1973)
6. The Hill (1965)
7. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)
8. Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
9. Murder In The First (1995)
10. Prison (1987)


Honourable mentions to The Truman Show and the powerful City of Life and Death; not technically prison films but all the characters are essentially trapped in one location.

I was tempted to go for The Defiant Ones.

However it's not technically a prison film as we never actually see the prison just two prisoners on the run (Poitier and Curtis). The same reason as Oh Brother Where Art Thou? didn't get a mention.

I think most of these will be on other list. Don't judge on innocent man. A real guilty pleasure.

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Prison films?

Scum
Papillion
Birdman Of Alcatraz
Ghosts Of The Civil Dead
Convict 99
McVicar
Silent Scream
We Are Monster
Ricky Oh
Escape From Alcatraz

WIP Films

Barbed Wire Dolls
Bare Behind Bars
99 Women
Caged Heat
Gestapo's Last Orgy
Wicked Women
House Of Whipcord
Scrubbers
Innocence

I thought about including Rio Bravo and Assault on Precinct 13, but didn't think they qualified as 'prison films' even though the plot is about a prisoner who is locked up by the authorities. I also considered including American History X, but didn't think enough of it took place in the prison to qualify. It was difficult to cut the list to 20, let alone 10, and Rescue Dawn, the Big Doll House, and Bronson were the last ones I deleted.

1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. Cool Hand Luke
3. The Great Escape
4. Chicken Run
5. Escape from New York
6. In The Name of the Father
7. The Bridge on the River Kwai
8. Alien3
9. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
10. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion

11. A Prophet
12. Chained Heat
13. Punishment Park
14. Son of Saul
15. A Man Escaped
16. The Big Bird Cage
17. Stalag 17
18. Brute Force
19. Scum
20. La grande illusion

@Nos

It's quite worrying that you find no place for Escape from Alcatraz in your twenty films listed but feel trash like Chained Heat worthy of a place.

Perhaps shamefully, I've never seen Escape from Alcatraz – something I realised only when researching for those lists – and enjoy Chained Heat, something which is trash, but enjoyable trash. I wanted to include Caged Heat, which I remember seeing and thought was a film which is both funny and (thanks to Jonathan Demme's direction) is actually quite well made. However, I don't own it so it's been so long I think I could include it in good conscience.