Rating: B-
Dir: David Anghel
Star: Joacim Landin, Stefan Karlsson, Josef Mado, Lars Fagernäs
After killing the man who sexually abused his daughter, Marius Kiljan (Landin) is sentenced to ten years for manslaughter, and sent to the infamous, remote prison which gives the film its name. The warden (Mado) is delighted to discover Marius’s background as a fighter, because it means he has fresh meat for the unsanctioned fights he stages. Marius declines to take part, until offered the chance to see his wife and child, if he wins three bouts. With the help of fellow inmate Carlo (Fagernäs), he gets back into shape for these contests. However, Marius is working on an escape plan, intending also to steal the memory cards on which the fights are recorded, and use them to bring down the warden.
Naturally, things don’t quite go to plan, and Marius and his co-escapees find themselves hunted through the bowels of the facility by sadistic guard Angerman (Karlsson). This angle is probably a bit more successful. I’ve seen the “unsanctioned prison fights” thing rather too often, and sometimes done better e.g. the Undisputed franchise. The choreography here is okay – you get occasional moments of impact – there just isn’t much in the way of innovation. It may be here where the avowed intent is clearest: Swedish fans, making a film that pays tribute to straight-to-video flicks of the eighties. Knowing that might help excuse some elements, for this is intended as homage to a time when VHS quality helped soften a significant number of rough edges.
It is low-budget, and this is likely most apparent in the prison location. Even allowing for the famously liberal nature of Scandinavian penal establishments, it’s never convincing: way too many potential shivs are just lying about. Makes sense, given the movie was actually filmed in the basements of the Farsta Centrum shopping mall, located in a suburb of Sweden’s capital. [It won Stockholm’s Best Shopping Centre award in 2002, y’know] Once I got past that, I enjoyed myself, and it is more competent than some passion projects I’ve seen. The performances are fine, considering they are in second languages – it was entirely made in English, though a couple of roles look potentially post-synched. Karlsson comes off best, cutting a menacing figure as the appropriately named Angerman (top).
If you are looking for subtlety and nuance, go elsewhere. Like the films which inspired it, this has no pretensions or desire to be some kind of “elevated action”. It’s straightforward, and has no frills – arguably to the point of being basic. However, in this genre, that is not necessarily a bad thing. A simple story, of a decent man wanting to see his family, can be just as effective, and that clarity perhaps helps. By the time this finished, I was firmly on Marius’s side, which gives the ending greater emotional impact than I was expecting. Not a dry eye in the house? Hardly. A macho fist-pump will do, thank you very much.
The film is available to stream now, through Amazon Prime and other services.