When a movie plot of ground send for for a cold , grim prison , shooting on a custom set feels like a cop - out . Some movie maker pick out to ditch the process of scouting , getting permits , and retrofitting previous spaces for large crowd and equipment in lieu of locking down a more authentic placement . The creepiness of former and participating prison would be almost impossible ( and very expensive ) to replicate , which is why some directors would rather utilize the real deal . check out out these detention centers that have earn their place in the credits .
1. HER MAJESTY’S PRISON MAZE AND HER MAJESTY’S PRISON CRUMLIN ROAD
localisation : Lisburn and Belfast , Northern IrelandFilm : Starred Up(2014 )
The British crime drama used two locations in Northern Ireland for its exterior and interior shots : Her Majesty ’s Prison Maze ( also known as Maze Long Kesh ) and the Victorian - earned run average Her Majesty ’s Prison Belfast ( also get it on as Crumlin Road Gaol ) . The film habituate the small spaces and complex net of gates and lock to its advantage , painting a very precise picture of what it would be like to move through the environment , or else of relying on fake cell sets and wide shaft of long hallways . In 2013 , the politics in Northern Irelandannouncedthat Her Majesty ’s Prison Maze will be redeveloped into a peace treaty center .
2. JOLIET CORRECTIONAL CENTER
Location : Joliet , Ill. Film : The Blues Brothers(1980 )
Bart Heird , Flickr//CC BY - NC - ND 2.0
doer John Belushi ’s character in the 1980 film is dub " Joliet " Jake because of the time he serve in this locking for armed looting . The real locationclosed in 2002after run for 144 years , but visitors can push to the site and dumbfound in front of what is affectionately known as the “ Joliet Jake Gate”—the spot where the character was show leaving the institution and walking to the Blues Mobile .
3. EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY
Location : PhiladelphiaFilms:12 Monkeys(1995),Animal Factory(2000),Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen(2009 ) ,
John St. John , Flickr//CC BY - NC - ND 2.0
Though it serves as a genial establishment in12 Monkeys , Eastern State Penitentiary is the “ first straight pen ” in the world . It was also the largest and most expensive public social organisation when it opened in 1829 . Since then , hundreds of institution around the world have borrowed from its radial trading floor plan . Several motion picture ( including the Steve Buscemi - directed dramaAnimal Factory ) , tv shows , and medicine videos have been film in thespooky cell blocksthat Al Capone and other outlaw with a lengthyjacketonce called home . Even the building ’s out-of-door space has a claim to fame : the overgrown hideout inTransformers : retaliation of the Fallenis in reality Eastern State ’s Industrial yard . The National Historic Landmark now manoeuver as a museum with everyday tours , exhibitions , and an one-year haunted house .
4.TENNESSEE STATE PENITENTIARY
Location : Nashville , Tenn. plastic film : Ernest function to Jail(1990),The Green Mile(1999),The Last Castle(2001 )
Brent Moore , Flickr//CC BY - NC 2.0
The high / medium - security detainment center near downtown Nashville closed its door in 1992 after the orifice of the Riverbend Maximum Security Institute at Nashville in 1989 . A settlement in a 1982 grade action suit made it so that the prison house could never legally reserve prisoner again due to " unconstitutional condition , " but actors portraying prisoners do n’t really numerate . Shots of thecastle - like main entrancewere used in thebone - chilling fantasy flickThe Green Mileagainst a menacing backdrop of lightning and rain on the dark of an execution . TheTennessee Film , Entertainment & Music Commissionoffers the site as a fee - free position for filmmakers , which was great for the Godhead of celluloid likeErnest conk out to JailandTheLast Castle , the bulk of which wasshot outsidein the vast yard .
5. MLADÁ BOLESLAV PRISON
Location : Mlada Boleslav , Czech RepublicFilm : Mission : Impossible - Ghost Protocol(2011 )
Before film the “ Russian Prison ” legal action scene for the first turn of the film , contribute Tom Cruise had the gang ramp up a wooden structure to replicate the cells and hallways ofthe Czech prison . They used the set to choreograph and do the bowel movement of the extras and the cameras because they could only film in the actual building for a few years .
6. RAHWAY STATE PRISON
Location : Rahway , N.J.Films : Scared Straight!(1978),Malcolm X(1992),Ocean ’s Eleven(2001 )
CBGB_Hoser , Flickr//CC BY - ND 2.0
Rahway State Prisonbecame East Jersey State Prison(EJSP ) in the late eighties when New Jersey communities realized that not sharing a town name with the name of a correctional institution would “ remove a terrific load from the shoulder of municipality . " Danny Ocean ( George Clooney ) is released from the facility at the beginning and end ofOcean ’s Eleven , and Spike Lee used EJSP to typify the Charlestown State Prison where Malcolm X exchange to Islam . The documentaryScared Straight!captured the consequence of a program in which jejune wrongdoer were forced to arrive face - to - fount with substantial inmates at Rahway .
7. HER MAJESTY’S PRISON WANDSWORTH
Location : London , EnglandFilm : A Clockwork Orange(1971 )
diamond geezer , Flickr//CC BY - NC - ND 2.0
The large prison house in the UK , Wandsworth , open in 1851 as the Surrey House of Correction . More than 130 prisoners who called the male - only establishment their home were executed by hanging . The gallows were strip in the early 1990s , and officers now use the recast distance asa tea room . " The bighearted house " also served as the exterior of Parkmoor Prison inA Clockwork Orange , while the DoI were shot over atWoolwich Barracks Prison .
8. ALCATRAZ ISLAND
Location : San FranciscoFilms : Escape from Alcatraz(1979),The Rock(1996),X - Men : The Last Stand(2006),Point Blank(1967 )
Todd Lappin , Flickr//CC BY - NC 2.0
Alcatraz is without question one of the most renowned placement in the world because of its ill-famed inmates and reputation for being rough and escape - proof . The pokey was only operational for 29 years , but there were a total of36 escape attack . Most were caught , some were shot , and the others drowned or were declared “ missing and presumed dead . ” Alcatraz is mentioned by name as the prison house inX - Men : The Last Stand , The Rock , andPoint Blankso it had to appear on screen at some point , but most of the films only included 2nd social unit stab of the exterior . On the other helping hand , Escape from Alcatrazwas able-bodied to make utilisation of the DoI of the island fortress for numerous scenes .
9. FRED C. NELLES YOUTH CORRECTIONAL CENTER
Location : Whittier , Calif. Films : Hancock(2008),Red State(2011),Bad Teacher(2011 )
Studio SoCal History , Flickr//CC BY - NC 2.0
After the girls were transmit to another location in 1916 , the Whittier - base deftness dish up as a reform school exclusively for young boys until it closed in 2004 . The school was usable for 113 years and in 1982 , it was register as a historic watershed . The majority of indie thrillerRed Statewasfilmed at the school day , the comedyBad Teachermade the billet of get a line its own , and superhero dramedyHancockused the location for exterior shots of yardbird introduce a construction .
10. PENITENTIARY OF NEW MEXICO
Location : Santa Fe , N.M.Film : The Longest Yard(2005 )
killbot , Flickr// CC BY - NC 2.0
Adam Sandler ’s 2005 remake of the behind - bars football flick from the seventies was dash at this men ’s maximal - security nerve centre because Director Peter Segalliked the settingand allege that “ it becomes a character in the story . ” The prison house is well make out as the site of a 1980 saturnalia that ended with 33 inmate deaths .
