prison film

  a very popular sub-genre with the film's plot usually set within the walls of an institutional prison; themes involve imprisonment and/or escape, the effects on the characters involved and interactions between officers and inmates, and issues of justice/injustice; the prison flick sub-genre can be found in any major genre (animated, drama, comedy, musical, science fiction, sexploitation, etc.)

  Examples: The Big House (1930), I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932), Brute Force (1947), Stalag 17 (1952), Riot In Cell Block Eleven (1954), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Jailhouse Rock (1957), The Defiant Ones (1958), The Great Escape (1963), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Take the Money and Run (1969), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Papillon (1973), Caged Heat (1974), Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975), Midnight Express (1978), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Stir Crazy (1980), Escape from New York (1981), 48 HRS (1982), Chained Heat (1983), Schindler's List (1993), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Rock (1996), The Green Mile (1999), Chicken Run (2000), O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)