Jacobs Ladder (1990)

Lately, I've been watching a lot of movies that in some way make one question reality, which really hasn't been good for my ongoing existential crisis. Donnie Darko (2001), American Psycho (2000), and Inception (2010) just to name a few.  Jacob's Ladder (1990) continues this theme of "Did any of that just happen?" It's hard to pin down in a certain category, but I would describe it as a surreal horror government paranoia thriller. 

    Jacob's Ladder follows the lead character, Jacob Singer, as he begins having strange 'Nam flashbacks and seeing weird hallucinations of faceless humanoid beings that are following him. Before I start my review and spoil it, I'll recommend you watch it if you haven't already. It's a trippy dream-like experience dealing with hell and death and all that fun stuff. 

SPOILERS:

Like Donnie Darko, this film kind of ends where it begins. While it may not deal with all the metaphysical dimensional stuff, the principle remains the same. A man seemingly escapes death, has these weird hallucinations, and ends up back at the moment he supposedly "survived" only to die. 

The design of Jacob's Ladder is genuinely horrifying and uncomfortable and it's interesting because a lot of it relies on not showing the viewer the full scope of what's going on/uncanny valley. In the party scene, where Jacobs begins seeing all these creatures, the strobe light makes it so you can only ever see snatches of what's happening. It makes everything feel very desperate as Jacob watches in horror while Jezzie dances up on some kind of winged demon and a horn erupts from her mouth. 

Another great example of the subtle horror the film does so well was the scene with the nurse where her hat falls off to reveal some kind of filed down horn. 
The director, Adrian Lyne, also referenced Francis Bacon as an inspiration for the "look" of the film which is apparent in the blurry heads and grotesque figures Jacob sees.

The dance scene kind of brings up all the biblical allusions that Jacob's Ladder is choc full of. I won't go into too much detail, but I will mention the quote from Louie (the chiropractor) that I found intriguing. 
He says,  "If you're afraid of dying, and you're holdin' on, you'll see devils tearin' your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freein' you from the world. It all depends on how you look at it."

Anyways, to wrap up I'm just gonna say that Jacob's Ladder is a solid film and I'd give it an 8.5/10.