JohnDoe
Bryn
Brenton
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
JACOB'S LADDER
Hi readers,
It’s Devil’s night tomorrow, so I thought I’d recommend this horrific delight for those who indulge in the celebration of Halloween and like me have a scary movie marathon.
DVD Cover
Writer:Bruce Joel Rubin
Starring:Tim Robbins, Jason Alexander, Danny Aiello, Elizabeth Pena, Eriq La Salle, Ving Rhames, Pruit Taylor Vince, Matt Craven, Machulay Culkin
“They've been followin' me. They're comin' outta the walls. I don't trust
anyone. I'm not even sure I trust you. But I gotta talk to someone. I'm gonna fly outta my fuckin' mind.”-Paul
An intelligent conspiracy theory thriller and an unnerving supernatural horror, the mysterious Jacob’s Ladder is a film to sprain the brain.
True story, in the 1960’s the US government did experiments using LSD on military personnel, the goal was to make men into uncontrollably brutal killers at a psychological level.
This is where we start our journey, in Vietnam a group of American G.I.’s smoke spliffs, bullshit and masturbate. Young Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) and the rest of the squad are suddenly ambushed, fighting for their lives blood and guts spew everywhere and Jacob is stabbed violently.
Without warning we abruptly jump to present day New York and Jacob is sitting on a rackety underground train, disorientated and looking for “Burgen Street”, his home.
Nothing is quite how he remembers it and repeatedly powerful visions invade Jacob’s reality. Slowly going insane, his mind is haunted by demonic hallucinations and images from a life that may or may not be his own.
“You're a lucky guy, Jake. You must have friends in high places, that’s all I can say"-Louis
Discovering that his old army buddies are suffering from the same condition, seeking answers he must solve the mystery of the illness, evade army intelligence agents and confront the riddles of existence.
“I don’t know who they are, or what they are. But they’re gonna get me and I’m scared I can’t do anything. I can’t go to my sisters. I can’t even go home”-Paul
John Doe says:
Jacob’s Ladder is thinking man’s horror; the intensity comes from within and is in the minds eye. It’s what you think you see, what you hear whispered in the background, not in your face gore or lazy tricks to make you jump.
On its initial release this film invaded my grey matter and warped my head, mentally scarring imagery told a tale that commanded relentless attention to minor details.
I had seen mind screws before, (eg: Seconds, Carnival of Souls) enhanced by contemporary lensing and sound design and combined with a complex, non-linear script full of spiritual metaphors the film managed to stimulate me in new and profound ways.
16 years after its release it still feels like a breath of fresh air, strikingly original and now with all it’s imitators, a major influential force.
This is the film that made me stand up and take notice of Tim Robbins (The Player, Bob Roberts, Erik The Viking, Tapeheads, Short Cuts, the Hudsucker Proxy).
Dealing with very difficult and ambiguous emotions he manages to communicate volumes with a gesture or flicker of the eye, I don’t think the film would be as coherent without him as the centre piece.
Supported by Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, Out Of Sight), Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) and Danny Aiello (Leon: The professional, Hudson hawk, Pret-a-porter, 2 days in The Valley) all the characters play a significant role in the tapestry of the narrative.
Director Adrian Lyne (9 and a ½ weeks, Flashdance, fatal Attraction) makes generic Hollywood pictures, the kind of films that I hate. This is a one of a kind on his C.V and he manages to create a solid vision in this, no small feat considering the myriad of ideas within the material
The DVD:
Quality transfer of image and sound, Widescreen in 5.1 Dolby the way it was meant to be seen. The commentary track by the Director is informative and teamed up by deleted scenes and a 27 minute making of doco the DvD is a must for fans, or those who want answers to the mystery
.Starring:Tim Robbins, Jason Alexander, Danny Aiello, Elizabeth Pena, Eriq La Salle, Ving Rhames, Pruit Taylor Vince, Matt Craven, Machulay Culkin
“They've been followin' me. They're comin' outta the walls. I don't trust
anyone. I'm not even sure I trust you. But I gotta talk to someone. I'm gonna fly outta my fuckin' mind.”-Paul
An intelligent conspiracy theory thriller and an unnerving supernatural horror, the mysterious Jacob’s Ladder is a film to sprain the brain.
True story, in the 1960’s the US government did experiments using LSD on military personnel, the goal was to make men into uncontrollably brutal killers at a psychological level.
This is where we start our journey, in Vietnam a group of American G.I.’s smoke spliffs, bullshit and masturbate. Young Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) and the rest of the squad are suddenly ambushed, fighting for their lives blood and guts spew everywhere and Jacob is stabbed violently.
Without warning we abruptly jump to present day New York and Jacob is sitting on a rackety underground train, disorientated and looking for “Burgen Street”, his home.
Nothing is quite how he remembers it and repeatedly powerful visions invade Jacob’s reality. Slowly going insane, his mind is haunted by demonic hallucinations and images from a life that may or may not be his own.
“You're a lucky guy, Jake. You must have friends in high places, that’s all I can say"-Louis
Discovering that his old army buddies are suffering from the same condition, seeking answers he must solve the mystery of the illness, evade army intelligence agents and confront the riddles of existence.
“I don’t know who they are, or what they are. But they’re gonna get me and I’m scared I can’t do anything. I can’t go to my sisters. I can’t even go home”-Paul
John Doe says:
Jacob’s Ladder is thinking man’s horror; the intensity comes from within and is in the minds eye. It’s what you think you see, what you hear whispered in the background, not in your face gore or lazy tricks to make you jump.
On its initial release this film invaded my grey matter and warped my head, mentally scarring imagery told a tale that commanded relentless attention to minor details.
I had seen mind screws before, (eg: Seconds, Carnival of Souls) enhanced by contemporary lensing and sound design and combined with a complex, non-linear script full of spiritual metaphors the film managed to stimulate me in new and profound ways.
16 years after its release it still feels like a breath of fresh air, strikingly original and now with all it’s imitators, a major influential force.
This is the film that made me stand up and take notice of Tim Robbins (The Player, Bob Roberts, Erik The Viking, Tapeheads, Short Cuts, the Hudsucker Proxy).
Dealing with very difficult and ambiguous emotions he manages to communicate volumes with a gesture or flicker of the eye, I don’t think the film would be as coherent without him as the centre piece.
Supported by Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, Out Of Sight), Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) and Danny Aiello (Leon: The professional, Hudson hawk, Pret-a-porter, 2 days in The Valley) all the characters play a significant role in the tapestry of the narrative.
Director Adrian Lyne (9 and a ½ weeks, Flashdance, fatal Attraction) makes generic Hollywood pictures, the kind of films that I hate. This is a one of a kind on his C.V and he manages to create a solid vision in this, no small feat considering the myriad of ideas within the material
The DVD:
Quality transfer of image and sound, Widescreen in 5.1 Dolby the way it was meant to be seen. The commentary track by the Director is informative and teamed up by deleted scenes and a 27 minute making of doco the DvD is a must for fans, or those who want answers to the mystery
"Good god, I just had the most horrible nightmare. They remade War Of the Worlds and I was in it with that guy from Top Gun".
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Film & TV on DVD
Its an all time fave of mine that will satisfy any discerning halloween horror urge.
Hope you like it.
Movies and Life
I agree with Cib, this looks really good.
Tracy
Film & TV on DVD
The DVD is priced quite well, around $18 and it should be available to hire at all good video stores.
This film is brilliant. It's not even the horror element that makes it thrilling to watch but more the way Jacob copes with what is happening to him, choosing to try and live a simple life even though he was a cerebral man before he went to Vietnam. Fantastic themes.
Nathan
Film & TV on DVD
Totally agree with your observation, nice.
The film has so many perspectives from which it can be observed and the philosophical concepts are compelling.
Appreciate the visit and loved the comment. Thanks.