Part unofficial sequel to Escape from Alcatraz, part 1980s slasher film as prison escapee Frank Morris breaks back into Alcatraz to butcher some pesky kids with a meat cleaver. Morris had previously been portrayed on screen by Clint Eastwood, here he is played by Aldo Ray, presumably the years in-between were meant to have been rough on Frank.
Terror on Alcatraz works best during its first and third act where Ray is centre stage and the film has the feel of Paul Leder type character study of an unpleasant, mentality unbalanced person a' la I Dismember Mama and My Friends Need Killing. Its less involving when in slasher mode for its mid-section, a direction that you're left with the impression the film was reluctantly pushed towards.
There was this inexplicable trend for prison set horror films that briefly came and went in the late 1980s, leaving us with the likes of 'Slaughterhouse Rock', 'The Chair', 'Prison', 'The Destroyer' and John Saxon's only film as a director 'Death House'. Terror on Alcatraz though is the only one of the bunch whose release was promoted with its own tie-in scratch card competition, cause if the sight of Aldo Ray going bare chested and chopping up people with a meat cleaver isn't enough to reel in the punters, the chance to win $500, a tour around Alcatraz and some Pierre Cardin designer luggage must surely have sealed the deal.
Terror on Alcatraz works best during its first and third act where Ray is centre stage and the film has the feel of Paul Leder type character study of an unpleasant, mentality unbalanced person a' la I Dismember Mama and My Friends Need Killing. Its less involving when in slasher mode for its mid-section, a direction that you're left with the impression the film was reluctantly pushed towards.
There was this inexplicable trend for prison set horror films that briefly came and went in the late 1980s, leaving us with the likes of 'Slaughterhouse Rock', 'The Chair', 'Prison', 'The Destroyer' and John Saxon's only film as a director 'Death House'. Terror on Alcatraz though is the only one of the bunch whose release was promoted with its own tie-in scratch card competition, cause if the sight of Aldo Ray going bare chested and chopping up people with a meat cleaver isn't enough to reel in the punters, the chance to win $500, a tour around Alcatraz and some Pierre Cardin designer luggage must surely have sealed the deal.