Dog Pound

Prison Drama

Distributed by Hopscotch Films

R4

The Dog Pound is a detention institution for young offenders who are not quite adult yet. Enola Vale prison is run by a warden who just wants a quiet life with no trouble, but trouble is brewing anyway. Three older longterm inmates comprise their own little gang, preying on the newer weaker arrivals. So far nobody has been seriously hurt so the prison staff think everything is under control.

Three new inmates, Butch, Davis and Angel are transferred in. Butch is on his last chance, after assaulting his parole officer. Next time he is charged he will go to an adult prison. It is hard for him to control his temper as the gang singles him out. Davis is a drug dealer and womaniser. Angel is a car thief. The three realise they must protect each other but one by one they are assaulted or raped or robbed. Slowly but steadily the troubles increase. Finally Butch loses his temper when being bullied. He doesn’t snitch on the gang but takes his revenge when he is let out of solitary.

These growing troubles affect the warders as well. One warder, Goodyear, a decent sort of guy, is told by the warden that he will have to work and forgo his son’s birthday party. The birthday party is to be a major event for Goodyear’s family and in an unusual fit of temper he hurls Angel against a wall and accidentally kills him. He was a decent warder but without his influence the lackadaisical warders and restless inmates start to lose control. The prison erupts.

The story is not particularly original but it is played with a non-stop intensity. It can only stand on the credibility of its actors. The young actors show a higher level of experience and professionalism than I would have expected. We are left hanging at the end. Do the remaining boys suffer? What happens to the warden and the warder who committed the accidental killing? These are left to our imagination and there will be no happy ending.

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