---
title: 'Scared Straight! (1978)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Arnold Shapiro'
released: '1978-01-01'
runtime_minutes: 52
genres:
  - 'Documentary'
countries:
  - 'United States'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/scared-straight-1978'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078205/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Scared Straight! (1978)

1978 · 52 min · Documentary · United States


## Synopsis

Scared Straight! is a 1978 American documentary directed by Arnold Shapiro. Narrated by actor Peter Falk – known for playing a police detective on the TV drama Columbo – the subject of the documentary is a group of juvenile delinquents and their three-hour session with actual convicts. Filmed at Rahway State Prison, a group of inmates known as the "lifers" berate, scream at, and terrify the young offenders in an attempt to "scare them straight", so that those teenagers will avoid prison life.

## Credits

- **Director:** [Arnold Shapiro](https://cinepixo.com/people/arnold-shapiro)
- **Screenplay:** [Arnold Shapiro](https://cinepixo.com/people/arnold-shapiro)
- **Producer:** [Arnold Shapiro](https://cinepixo.com/people/arnold-shapiro)
- **Director of Photography:** [William Moffitt](https://cinepixo.com/people/william-moffitt)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/scared-straight-1978
Film facts: Wikidata (Q1461516); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.