Scared Straight! (1978) User Reviews

Powerful Documentary

[harry-76 · 9/10 · 4 September 2001]

In order to get a young teen with a long history of crime and committed to a continued future in that area to completely turn around and choose to "go straight"--all within a time frame of under three hours--you know such a transformation must be very powerful, if not miraculous.

What could possibly take place within so short a time to prompt 16 out of 17 young subjects kick their criminal habits, without a hand being laid on them? Hypnotism? Some form of brain-washing technique? An invisible laser- wave bombardment?

Actually, none of these, only words . . . powerful phrases spoken often at maximum volume by volunteers from a maximum security cell block of the Rahway State Prison in New Jersey.

Without laying a hand their subjects, "hardened" convicts serving 30 year to life sentences, share the truth about prison life in harsh, gross details, leaving nothing to the imagination.

In a demonstration of emotional response, the youths are ordered to remove their shoes, which are pitched into a center pile. A volounteer inquires how the group feels when robbed of their possessions, pointing out that that's also how their robbery victims feel.

The manner in which the documentary is presented positions the viewer as a intimate participant in this moving exercise. One can feel the emotional intensity of the experience, as volunteers expose some of the terror of prison life which awaits these potential inmates.

It's not an easy experience to sit through, and the uncensored language may be too harsh or harrowing for some viewers. Too, the 50-minute documentary may seem much longer, because on the intensity of the subject.

However, the statistical 90% success-rate of this "scare-tactic" program is astounding. The volunteers benefit from their doing something constructive in helping to turn young lives around. The youths benefit from their changed attitude and altered life choices.

Academy Award Winner of Best Documentary in 1978, this Arnold Shapiro written and directed short, now on VHS, remains as chillingly compelling today as when first shown. Rahway is a model for similar potential programs across the country. The public is indebted to the gifts of these volunteers, who are completely in charge of creating and running this unique "scared-straight" program. Peter Falk is the effective narrator.

Propaganda or a Matter of "Keepin' It Real"?

[nocompassneeded · 7/10 · 9 January 2007]

There is no denying that this documentary is really engaging, if only in a perverse sort of way. The grating, in-your-face approach was certainly ahead of its time and the ultimate message--however closely orchestrated and exaggerated--cannot be mistaken. It's interesting to note how we are assaulted with "good" here, rather than being assaulted with "evil", how we , as passive viewers, are pushed and pulled by the film without our own volition. We are "turned out" by the convicts and walk away broken but wiser. That said, the film reminds me somewhat of "Reefer Madness" and other such pieces of propaganda that force the audience into an ostensibly "real" hell-hole in an effort to scare us straight. Here we have a more street-wise but equally paranoid attempt to pummel at-risk kids with sordid tales that will lead them away from a life of crime. The kids in the film, although shown to be the focus of the warnings--the very center of attention, are really nothing more than supporting actors-- players, not recipients, of the message which borders on outright propaganda. The real audience is comprised of slightly rowdy and/or delinquent middle class kids who both are both fearful of and fascinated by deviant actions. For them, watching this film is equivalent to "slumming". It's "real" only in a very mediated way. With that in mind, it's arguable that this film's shock tactics do more to entertain than to instruct. Thus, on a fictional level the film is wonderful, but if we're looking for gritty cinema verite that just happens to coincide with governmental policies we will be disappointed.

The word would be INTENSE--but entertaining when watching from a safe distance

[Sheldonshells · 9/10 · 5 September 2008]

The word that comes to the forefront of my mind when I watch this documentary is INTENSE. What's happening in the documentary is maybe the penultimate intense situation. There's no overt violence (unless you can construe verbal assault as a form of violence), there's no blood shed or particularly frightening scenes. Just lots of intensity. Which makes this extremely enjoyable. When I watched Scarred Straight on a little known channel called Moviepix back in the mid nineties or so, I was probably more than a little scared myself. Watching it again recently, I immediately felt that there was something so stirring and powerfully convincing about those convict orators, the strange and brutal world of prison life shooting through their lips like a shank delivered in an underhanded thrust to the face. It is fascinating the venom they let pour from their mouths to the teenage criminals before them, seemingly showing nothing but contempt for the kids, yet all along doing it with the aim of actually deterring these kids from the jagged path they have begun to tread on. I'm reminded of the horrors of prison life, especially the gang rapes–a form of cruel and unusual punishment that should not be tolerated in an evolved, modern society. But yet, what will there be to prevent these kids from harming others if not for that powerful deterrent. It's a disgusting and disturbing thought, but it does make you think, and it's the kind of necessarily upsetting thoughts that surface when watching this movie. The convicts duty is too make these kids think twice, and their vitriolic, yet elegant and almost poetic, threats of rape, beatings, and murder is unfortunately more effective than what a high school guidance counselor can provide.

A central flaw to Scarred Straight though is that it didn't have female convicts relating the experience of female prisons to the three girls in the mostly male company. Yet it doesn't seem to really matter to the girls; they look more terrified than most of the boys (even though some of the boys have tears welling up in their eyes during the session)–and one of the male convicts did mention a particularly horrific account of physical and sexual assault in a female prison. But it still would have been interesting to have an actual female convict to talk just as aggressive and as crude to the girls (I wonder if they did this for the 1999 Scarred Straight?).

It is such a delight to see the kids reactions after it was over. They all seem to have been breathing sighs of relief that they were out of there. Most of them actually did become straight–whether the program was actually the chief inspiration for that is unknown. But it does have a powerful effect on the viewer (especically when in the right frame of mind), a strange and rare kind of entertaining film that really doesn't do much to entertain. And there are some funny things the cons say. I don't think it's unacceptable to have an occasional laugh at these criminal wordsmiths as we sit in the comfort of our living spaces, knowing that we aren't locked in that room with them yelling in our faces about vengeful vendettas, eye gouging, nose biting, and d—s sliding into you.

Potent.

[Rid.X · 6 May 2000]

I first saw this nearly five years ago as a high school freshman, in health class. The experience was absolutely riveting, and as has already been pointed out, there's a brutal honesty in this film that simply doesn't come from a screenplay.

While this film is over two decades old, that in no way lessens its impact. With talk-shows now blindly bombarding us with images of indignant, lawless teenagers and trying to dispel the situation with pop psychologists and boot camps, the "Scared Straight!" program looks all the more effective.

This is definitely not one to miss.

Scared Straight hit me!!! in ENGLAND

[roycarr · 10/10 · 22 January 2007]

I was born in Tottenham, North London in 1970, by the time I was fifteen I had witnessed the worst riots in Britain where a police constable was murdered. By the time I was sixteen I had decided that it did'nt matter if I ever became overweight because I was never going to run from anyone as I would have a gun and it was they who would need to do the running. I distinctively remember not caring how many times I got arrested as I was never going to get a job. I carried a knife, smoked weed and coke. I was bad, for my age, even the older crooks used to say to my elder brother, "Alan he's gonna make you look like a pussy when he's our age".

One night I stayed up late at home, well actually I snuck downstairs because in my parents house, when they went to bed, "you go to bed". Flicking through the channels I bumped into a documentary called the "Lifers Group". The second I clapped eyes on it I was in a trance, I saw, first hand, where my life was taking me. By the time the documentary finished I was soaking wet. The next morning at 0900 hours I was standing outside Surbiton Army Careers Office. Within 3 weeks I was conducting Basic Training for the Royal Green Jackets. Thanks to Scared Straight I've been decorated by HM the Queen Twice, I have a helicopter pilots licence, two dashing boys, a home of my own, direction the lot. Thankyou!

Unforgettable!

[Hessian499 · 10/10 · 15 September 2001]

A documentary that you will never forget once you see it, Scared Straight ought to be required viewing in every high school. As narrator Peter Falk points outs at the being of the film, it at first seems too good to be true that three hours in prison will make young trouble makers change their ways, but the subsequent prison visit shows that it is possible to change young lives in such a short time. The confrontation between the inmates and kids is riveting; you hang on to every word, and feel the tension in the room even while watching it on video. The change in the kids sent on the prison visit is astonishing, as shown in the interviews taped before and after the trip to Rahway. Before the trip, the kids all brag about their crimes and think they will never get caught; the interviews taken after the prison visit shows how effective the program was for each of them. Scared Straight is a powerful film; the setting and language will be offensive to some, but it is exactly those elements which make it such a forceful production. Though made back in the 1970s, it is still important and timely viewing.

Being 16 at the time watching Scared Straight...

[fearsintelligenceagency7 · 10/10 · 5 July 2006]

Being in fact that I was in a Private institution for emotional disturbed children at the time that I watched Scared Straight it had a profound effect on my life. I had friends who were arrested in juvenile hall because of stupid crimes stealing cars, stealing purses, nothing like the teens of today... murders, armed robbery, drug dealings. Our crimes were deemed normal for the youth of that generation.

Watching the convict tell one of the teens he would be his bitch scared the hell out of me.. I used to refer to that very comment when one of my friends wanted me to do something stupid... So Scared Straight worked for me...

So if it deterred me from committing crime the movie was a successful if it scared one kid from committing crime it has done what the movie was intended to do.. deter kids from crime. I never been in jail and it was this movie that set my mind to not be a criminal

Better straighten up and fly right, son!

[Woodyanders · 10/10 · 14 April 2006]

Anyone who attended either junior high or high school in the late 70's up until the mid 80's has probably seen this legendary hard-hitting 50 minute shock doc about seventeen brash, cocky, insolent, "nothing-is-ever-gonna-happen-to-me" carefree juvenile delinquents from New York and New Jersey who are at the seriously precarious risk of becoming lifelong career criminals. These potential threats to the decent, tax-paying, law-abiding public at large are sent to a brutal maximum security prison in Rahway, New Jersey that harbors the worst substratum of vicious raping, thieving, murdering subhuman hoodlum scum to ever crawl across the face of the earth.

The deliciously grotesque rogues' gallery of no-account jailbirds include some dude with only one eye, a ferociously confrontational black guy, and a scraggly white cat who delivers this especially smoking spiel about how every day he wakes up in the morning wondering if he's gotta kill somebody. The hardened felons knock the recalcitrant arrogance out of these snotty punk-a** kids by telling them all about the grim, seamy and hellishly barbaric reality of life behind bars in unsparingly harsh and profane terms ("Look at me mother*beep*er when I'm talking!"). Watching these boastful little b**tards have their surly overinflated ego balloons popped by being subjected to foul homosexual taunts and coarse, unrelenting verbal harassment makes for very satisfying viewing.

Shot in spare, gritty, no-frills hand-held verite style on grungy film stock, with no music and ragged editing, this powerhouse picture possesses a fierce, jolting, hair-raisingly in-your-face immediacy. This blistering documentary not only was televised uncut on PBS and soberly narrated by Peter "Columbo" Falk, but also won both Emmy and Academy Awards for Best Documentary! An unarguable classic.

Powerful!

[SeanWiz · 10/10 · 18 February 1999]

I hope that every punk there is on this world gets a chance to see this film. This was my third time watching it, and I still find myself imagining being locked up for just one day, and how that would feel. This movie serves as an excellent eye openner for a lot of kids who are having troubles with the law at a young age.

Entertaining but Sadly Doesn't Help

[romiaat · 2/10 · 6 February 2013]

As nyrunner states this makes good television,dramatic with a "feel good" ending when you see some of the youths moving in the opposite direction to build up a better life,sadly the technique isn't very helpful.It seems a bit stupid to me that they would think that this alone would help all of them.There are no cures for psychopaths,we haven't figured out how to make their amygdala respond to fear like people without the disorder.Nobody seems to ask many questions about what caused these kids to start going in the wrong direction,what motivates their behavior? It can't all be down to bing "cool/popular" & fitting in.Do they have very low self-esteem ,because they were hurt so feel the need to prove themselves for example.Do they lack the skills to regulate their emotions & act impulsively to reduce their emotional pain? What are the parents doing to help? What role models can be there to support them? I think a show that explores these root causes & is EVIDENCE BASED (actually helps more than a "placebo" treatment)would be less dramatic & entertaining but at least it would actually help those that really need help instead of appearing on TV & maybe regretting being humiliated publicly in the future.Sadly they're just making money out of these kids & parents who believe this will be beneficial because they're supposed to be "experts".Just because it makes sense doesn't mean it is true!

Extremely Powerful Stuff

[jdub-3 · 16 April 1999]

This is the kind of frank, brutal, and explicit commentary that you simply cannot find in a "prison" movie. The interaction between the "Lifers" (inmates who have been committed to life sentences, and perform an outreach service to children at risk) and the potentially felonious kids is extremely powerful. After watching, you have to wonder why there isn't a program like this in every city in every state in every country. Forget about any fictional account of prison life that you've ever seen - Scared Straight is the real deal, and one you won't soon forget.

the harshest reality

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 30 September 2020]

Arnold Shapiro's Oscar- and Emmy-winning "Scared Straight!" depicts some young delinquents getting taken to a New Jersey prison, where some inmates harangue them in the hope of stopping them from a life of crime. The documentary is like a brick in the face. Part of the purpose is for the inmates to remind the youths what it feels like to be victims (i.e., by taking away their shoes), but also to remind them of the horror of living in a prison.

The documentary marked the first time that profanity had appeared on many networks. If you ask me, this is the sort of documentary that should get shown at least once a year, especially now that the US has over two million people in jail, most of them black and Latino.

The edition that I saw featured interviews with the youths and inmates years after the documentary got made to see what became of them; despite some problems with the law, most of them managed to become family people.

All in all, definitely see this.

Interesting Documentary - Total Failure as Technique

[nyrunner · 3/10 · 22 June 2005]

I saw this documentary over twenty years ago and I have to admit that it was riveting stuff.

However, in the years since its release, study after study has indicated that this is a very ineffective way of keeping juveniles in line. The rate of recidivism among graduates was just as high as among those who were in this program as for those who did not enter any program at all. Judging from the comments written here this is a fact apparently lost to most posters. Simply stated, the scared straight program is a failure.

Still, this is nonetheless an interesting documentary that seldom bores.

A trip into hell

[dtucker86 · 3 October 2003]

This became one of the most legendary documentaries ever made. I rented the video once and taped the show when it came on tv. Even though this film was made a quarter century ago, its effect is still as powerful and its message still as important. I have always supported programs like Scared Straight because there are some kids who don't respond to kindness. To all those bleeding heart people who think these convicts were so mean to these kids, just remember they didn't get there for being boy scouts. Good kids don't go into someone's prison. One of the lifers told the group that if someone had talked to him like that he wouldn't be in prison. Another lifer tells the group that the police can make a thousand mistakes but you can only make one. The speaker that scared the kids the most was this one guy named Ali. He had a loud screeching voice and seemed the most angry of the convicts. He told the kids "I'm here for murder, kidnapping, armed robbery...". He showed them his eye was missing, taken right out of its socket in a prison fight. I feel the convicts "in your face" approach was the right thing to do. They had experimented before with a kinder gentler approach, and guess what folks it didn't work! The kids actually wanted to go back to the prison because they thought that the convicts were a nice bunch of guys! I watched interviews they did with those kids before they went into Rahway and I wanted to slap the snot out of some of them at the things they were saying. I was thinking to myself, what a bunch of punks! I'll tell you this, they didn't act like that after it was all over. In 1998, they did a follow up special called Scared Straight Twenty Years Later. Danny Glover was the host of it. It profiled the kids and the convicts. Only two of the group that went to Rahway for the documentary became career criminals. One was in prison and one had died. The others were useful and productive members of society. None were rocket scientists, they had mostly blue collar jobs, but the point is they had lived honest lives and all of them talked of how greatful they were for the program and what it did for them. Three of the lifers had died (one of natural causes, one of AIDS and one of an overdose). Two of them were still in prison and the rest had been released and had lived honestly since. The one with the missing eye was so different. They interviewed him and he seemed like such a nice old guy. He had a beautiful family and said he had everything he wanted and that he loved himself. It was wonderful to see.