Prison horror films have an undeniable appeal: the darkness, the violence, the cover-ups, and the chilling images of those who walked those cold, hard corridors before death claimed their damaged souls. Time of Death brings a powerful cast along for this spectral journey, including Kevin Pollak, Mena Suvari, Dennis Haysbert, and lead actor Michael Kelly.

But is Seneca Ridge Penitentiary truly a refuge for apparitions and evil spirits, cursing anyone who tries to escape?

The film opens with a battered man lying on the ground beside his overturned car as it catches fire after an apparent crash. When he realizes his family is trapped inside the burning vehicle, his desperate attempt to save his wife and son becomes the emotional foundation for the film’s exploration of grief and guilt from that fateful night.

Frank (Michael Kelly) is a by-the-book investigator with the Bureau of Corrections. In 1987, he completed his third prison shutdown for code violations alongside his psychologist colleague and sometime lover, Dr. Ali Burrell (Mena Suvari). With the AIDS epidemic in full swing and two years passed since the horrific accident that claimed his loved ones, Frank continues to struggle with painful flashbacks. As he mentors a young agent, Alan (Trevor Morgan), Frank remains tormented by the night that changed his life forever.

Meanwhile, after an inmate at Seneca Ridge is granted a 48-hour pass, the bureau is alerted when he fails to return and seems to have vanished without a trace. Sensing something sinister beneath the surface, Frank assigns the case to Alan, who spends a week examining possible connections to the man’s unexplained disappearance. As Alan’s inquiry points toward a predictable outcome, another horrific event pulls Frank deeper into the case, forcing him to piece together the “murder wall” left behind in Alan’s motel room.

A deeply ominous atmosphere surrounds the decaying institution as Frank is drawn into this “Alcatraz of the Appalachian” complex. He speaks with convicts, examines the abandoned execution chair now used as a file room, and meets with prisoners still on death row to understand what is happening inside the run-down prison. As he endures nightmarish visions and shadowy figures lingering in the cells, he realizes everything connects to the last execution: convicted murderer Dustin Reeves.

So, what is really happening in this creepy place? Are souls being claimed by the devil? Are occult rituals involving inmate sacrifices taking place? And what is Warden Beau LaRue (Kevin Pollak) hiding behind his self-righteous leadership and fierce determination to keep the doors open? The prisoners are terrified, preferring execution or even suicide to the risk of being released from this dilapidated site. Reeves’ death has somehow cursed Seneca Ridge. As the bodies pile up and answers grow scarce, Time of Death moves at its own pace, with a few slow stretches, but the terrible secret revealed in the end makes it worth the cost of admission. Chilling.