Viggo Mortensen’s ’80s Horror Movie ‘Prison’ Deserves a Reappraisal
A significant number of well-known and respected Hollywood actors started their careers in less prestigious horror films before they became widely recognized. One such actor who flew under the radar is Viggo Mortensen, who made his debut in the 1987 movie “Prison.” Over a decade prior to gaining global fame as Aragorn in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and receiving an Oscar nomination, Mortensen played a modest but heroic convict in a prison haunted by a vengeful spirit. Despite garnering only a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this film merits another look, as it offers genuine jump-scares, a tense atmosphere, and even some unsettling social commentary that remains relevant today.