Scared Straight! (1978)

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Directed by Arnold Shapiro, this 1970s documentary brought 17 juvenile delinquents to a maximum security New Jersey prison and left them to spend the day with some of the most notoriously dangerous criminals behind bars. The inmates -- who were, for the most part, serving life sentences -- offered… More Directed by Arnold Shapiro, this 1970s documentary brought 17 juvenile delinquents to a maximum security New Jersey prison and left them to spend the day with some of the most notoriously dangerous criminals behind bars. The inmates -- who were, for the most part, serving life sentences -- offered the troubled kids a disturbingly realistic, no-holds-barred account of prison life and all of the brutality that comes with the territory. Scared Straight! won an Oscar in 1978 for Best Documentary Feature, and was revisited in the mid-'90s when MTV recreated the show in hopes of reaching new young delinquents. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi