swap_horiz Hell's House Alternatives

1

Le Trou

Jacques Becker’s *Le Trou* (The Hole) is a seminal 1960 French prison film. The movie gained recognition for its remarka...

Classic French Escape 1960S

9.5 Brilliant

2

In Prison Awaiting Trial

In Prison Awaiting Trial is a 1971 Italian drama by Nanni Loy, notable for Alberto Sordi's Kafkaesque ordeal in Italy's...

Italian Drama 1970S Legal

7.6 Good

3

The Prisoner (1955)

The Prisoner is a 1955 British psychological drama by Peter Glenville, starring Alec Guinness and nominated for five BAF...

Drama Political 1950S Interrogation

7.6 Good

4

Clemency

Clemency is Chinonye Chukwu's 2019 U.S. death-row drama; she was the first Black woman to win Sundance's U.S. Dramatic G...

Drama 2010S Death Row Warden

7.6 Good

5

King Rat

King Rat is a 1965 POW film written and directed by Bryan Forbes, adapted from James Clavell's Changi Prison-based novel...

Drama 1960S War Pow

7.5 Good

6

The Inner Cage

The Inner Cage is a 2021 Italian prison drama by Leonardo Di Costanzo, notable for its standoff between guards and inmat...

Modern Italian Drama 2020S

7.3 Good

7

Bad Boys (1983)

Bad Boys is a 1983 juvenile prison drama by Rick Rosenthal, notable for Sean Penn's early starring role as a Chicago you...

Drama Crime 1980S Juvenile

7.2 Good

8

Everynight... Everynight

Everynight... Everynight is Alkinos Tsilimidos's 1994 Australian prison drama set in Pentridge's H Division; it won Mont...

Drama Australian 1990S Violence

7.2 Good

9

The Mustang

The Mustang is Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre's 2019 prison drama, starring Matthias Schoenaerts as an inmate in a wild-hors...

Drama Rehabilitation 2010S Horse Training

7.2 Good

10

The Criminal (1960)

The Criminal is a 1960 British neo-noir prison crime film by Joseph Losey, starring Stanley Baker as paroled gangster Jo...

Drama Crime British 1960S

7.1 Good

11

Animal Factory

Animal Factory is a 2000 prison drama directed by Steve Buscemi, notable for adapting Edward Bunker's novel with Willem...

Drama Survival 2000S Gang

7.0 Good

12

Stir (1980)

Stir is Stephen Wallace's 1980 Australian prison drama, based on writer Bob Jewson's experience of the 1974 Bathurst pri...

Drama Australian 1980S Riot

7.0 Good

13

20,000 Years in Sing Sing

20,000 Years in Sing Sing is a 1932 Michael Curtiz pre-Code prison drama, based on warden Lewis E. Lawes's nonfiction bo...

Classic Drama 1930S Sing Sing

6.9 Fair

14

Castle on the Hudson

Castle on the Hudson is a 1940 Anatole Litvak prison film starring John Garfield, remaking 20,000 Years in Sing Sing fro...

Classic Drama 1940S Sing Sing

6.6 Fair

15

Invisible Stripes

Invisible Stripes is a 1939 Warner Bros. crime film by Lloyd Bacon, starring George Raft as an ex-con struggling after p...

Classic Crime 1930S Parole

6.6 Fair

16

Hell's Highway

Hell's Highway is a 1932 American pre-Code chain-gang drama from RKO, noted for its blunt depiction of brutal Southern p...

Classic Drama 1930S Chain Gang

6.4 Fair

17

Devil's Island (1939)

Devil's Island is a 1939 American prison film directed by William Clemens, notable for casting Boris Karloff in a sympat...

Classic Escape 1930S Penal Colony

6.1 Fair

18

Up the River

Up the River is a 1930 John Ford prison comedy, notable as the feature-film debut of both Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bog...

Classic Comedy Escape 1930S

5.9 Mediocre

19

Chain Gang

Chain Gang is a 1950 Lew Landers prison drama starring Douglas Kennedy as a reporter working undercover to expose corrup...

Classic Drama 1950S Chain Gang

5.9 Mediocre

20

The Steel Cage

The Steel Cage is a 1954 prison film noir directed by Walter Doniger, built as three San Quentin stories involving Warde...

Classic Drama Anthology 1950S

5.8 Mediocre