Sylvester Stallone stars in this prison melodrama as Frank Leone, an auto mechanic who just wants to play with the neighborhood kids and marry his sweetheart Melissa (Darlanne Fluegel). But when a bunch of punks kill the old man who took Frank off the streets and acted as his mentor when he was fourteen, Frank seeks out the criminals and beats them up. Frank is arrested and sentenced to six months in a minimum-security prison. Frank figures he'll serve out his time and marry Melissa, but the fates are against him. Hateful Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland), who has an old score to settle with Frank, has him transferred from the minimum-security prison to a maximum-security hellhole, Gateway Prison. Drumgoole walks ominously through a fetid mist to greet Frank with the words, "Welcome to Gateway, Leone. This is Hell and I'm going to give you a guided tour."