Rated #1 on IMDb’s “Top Rated Movies” list (for 12 years now) this modern classic was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is among the most beloved films of all time. “The Shawshank Redemption” is one of those films that sticks with you for a while. And by a while, I mean 25 years later, it still resonates with people. The film about the inmates at the Shawshank State Prison, shot at the Ohio State Reformatory, was home to tens of thousands of inmates between 1896 and 1990. The prison had another nickname, too: “Dracula’s Castle.”
Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins. Photo By ITV/Shutterstock
The Shawshank Redemption story first came to life in the mind of Stephen King at some point in the mid-70s. By 1982, the novella was published along with three others in a book called “Different Seasons.” Frank Darabont then turned King’s novella into a screenplay, and eventually directed the film in 1994. The movie didn’t do so well at the box office, but critics praised Darabont’s prison drama, and it went on to dominate the home movie-watching game… as well as our hearts.