Jacob's Ladder (1990)

This psychological horror thriller from director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal, Flashdance, Unfaithful) takes us through the horrific journey of Vietnam vet Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) who is now working as a postman in New York City and starts seeing various horrific visions wherever he goes....could they be demons?  He doesn't know but they start getting worse and worse, even blending into his everyday life....could they be premonitions resulting from his PTSD?  Neither he knows nor his girlfriend (Elizabeth Pena) and the only person who can apparently provide him with some comfort is his personal chiropractor played by Oscar-nominee Danny Aiello.  Eventually Jacob does get more answers as to where these visions might be coming from but those only result in more questions.....this mind-bending tale garnered a following throughout the '90's as a result of some genuinely disturbing imagery featured throughout.  It also features a pretty stacked cast including Matt Craven, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jason Alexander, Eriq LaSalle, Ving Rhames, and Macauley Culkin.

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE PORTRAYED VIA MOVIE CLIPS

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

See below for a link to an extended deleted scene discussed in this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hkLhMuzk3E&t=415s

Transcript

JACOB’S LADDER - 1990

Directed by Adrian Lyne

Starring Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jason Alexander, Patricia Kalember, Eriq La Salle, Ving Rhames, Brian Tarantina, Anthony Alessandro, Brent Hinkley, S. Epatha Merkeson, and Macauley Culkin

Genre: Psychological Horror (Audio clip)

Yeah this movie is as f&%ked up as I remember - wow and to think that Adrian Lyne directed this in between Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal, two arguably much shallower movies both with third acts which felt heavily compromised. Definitively NOT the case here! 

Tim Robbins stars as Jacob Singer, a recent Vietnam vet who left under questionable circumstances and is now living in mid '70's New York, working as a mailman and living with his co-worker/girlfriend Jezebel played by Elizabeth Pena - he is continuously haunted not only by flashbacks to his past but also by EXTREMELY unnerving images from people around him who sometimes look like demons....or so he thinks. The movie kicks off with a harrowing scene of him in Vietnam - we watch him and several of his fellow troops just start to go bat-shit insane as they are being attacked...shit gets bloody as folks start to turn on each other. 😮

And I'll leave at that plot-wise...one because I wouldn't want to spoil it for any one who hasn't yet seen this AND....two because I'm honestly not sure that I COULD explain the overall plot even if I wanted to. :) It gets pretty complex to say the least even as all of this story seems to be told from Jacob's POV - there are several points when he's not even sure what's actually happening to him. Through this all, Robbins gives a truly incredible performance that honestly, I had forgotten he was even capable of - my biggest gripe with him as an actor even including The Shawshank Redemption was that I rarely bought it when he was playing some one sympathetic, there was just always a coldness there that I think better served him in movies like The Player or Arlington Road. 

Well with this performance, he runs the full gamut of emotions but more often than not overwhelmed and/or distraught....and he NAILS this! There's one moment roughly halfway through - and this is a sequence shown on the posters and trailers - where the camera just hangs on him floating in a tub, staring upwards with genuine torment in his face and we see a couple of tears float down. Given the implications of what he just saw previously and what he is NOW seeing, it's a shattering moment. 😰

And this film is loaded with very strong performances, especially Pena who has more than her share of genuinely tricky scenes and Danny Aiello who brings a much-needed warmth to both Jacob playing his chiropractor....and to the audience as he eventually expresses a core message of the movie. 

Of course, this being a Lyme film, the film LOOKS really mysterious and evocative of a time and place loaded with grime but still very stylish - it makes sense as DP Jeffrey Kimball also worked on Tony Scott's earlier films leading up to True Romance. And the production design and practical effects are also next-level - yup even more than 30+ years later with every Silent Hill game and NIN video copying its look, 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

For such a fiercely terrifying movie, this film has a surprisingly subtle score which is still quite effective – a haunting, emotional mix of piano and strings from the late, great French composer….three-time Oscar winner Maurice Jarre. (Audio clip) 

But for me the top choice is the ULTIMATELY ironic usage of a ‘70’s funk song during one of this film’s more terrifying sequences roughly about thirty-five minutes into the movie as Jacob attends a raucous dance party with Jezebel.  Jacob’s clearly not comfortable dancing but she drags him on the dance floor for a few moves…before he eventually cowers wandering off as she ends up dancing with some one else.  What kicks off as a playful sequence just becomes increasingly more terrifying as Jacob starts to…..SEE things…..with strobe light all over….not only disturbing faces across the dance floor but glancing close-ups of this demonic creature dancing with Jezebel.  And all the while….we’re hearing some genuinely catchy music playing….from none other than the late, great James Brown from his 1974 double-album “Hell”….yeah that tracks….the song is “My Thang.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Now apparently before it was released, the original cut of this film was well over two hours long with some pretty grisly stuff which put off test audiences so at the request of the studio, Lyne removed about twenty minutes during the editing process.  And the result was an excellent movie, also one which never really wears out its welcome….which I’m all for.  However as part of the film’s eventual release on DVD, we can now view ONE extended sequence in particular which was to occur in the latter third of the movie….one where Matt Craven’s Michael (who is a chemist) treats Jacob with an antidote to the Ladder drug.  And Craven in AMAZING in this scene to set things in motion, kind of underplaying things in a matter which still sets the stakes…. (Audio clip) 

I am genuinely torn as to whether they should have kept this sequence but it’s SO effective in its imagery – at one point, we see through that ceiling crack this EYE peering down at Jacob surrounded by blood – that it really feels like a ride onto itself, a very satisfying mini-movie if you will which is honestly as good as anything else in the film.  I get why they cut it as all of that blood MIGHT have resulted in an NC-17 rating at the time and how it also offers false hope for his character…..but still just fantastic filmmaking, I’ll include a link to it in the description for this episode. (Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

At just around the 75 minute mark, this movie takes a VERY disturbing shift following a violent car accident with Jacob narrowly escaping death….then finding himself in a hospital for back injuries.  At first, he’s in what seems like a standard E/R being triaged by normal-looking doctors and nurses…..and then suddenly, we see his bed gurney being carted into the dark, grimy entrance of what apparently is a DIFFERENT sort of hospital?? (Audio clip) 

The images we then see around his cart as it moves furiously through this cramped, dirty corridor are brief but startling: bloody, dismembered limbs on the floor, patients missing limbs crawling on a gated platform directly above him…..a glance at an open room showing a vibrating patient on top of a chair….with NO lower body?? And then culminating with being strapped under harsh lights while screws are being inserted into each side of his head to keep it in place….and with at least two doctors tending to him – one of them missing eyes apparently – who each have decidedly ATROCIOUS bedside manners.  This sequence is just a genuine show-stopper and a masterclass in production design, sound design, editing, and of course Robbin’s terrified performance at the center of it. It’s just so unnerving, it definitely holds up as one of the the most terrifying sequences of the '90's…. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

As tempted as I was to choose Robbins for what I believe is certainly among his best performances, this is still a director’s movie at the end of the day.  As a filmmaker, Adrian Lyme has always delivered a fog-induced, dreamy vibe for his films which is unmistakable from Flashdance to Fatal Attraction to 9 and a ½ Weeks to Indecent Proposal…..all generally watchable films which have also received some criticism for pushing style over substance…which I’m inclined to agree with too.  In most cases, I have found that this films have always looked better than their actual stories….well not in this case.  

Armed with more supernatural but also more thoughtful material this time around – thanks to Oscar-winning writer Bruce Joel Rubin’s screen play and yes this was the SAME year he also wrote Ghost – Lyme truly accomplishes something more affecting, more substantial, and even with more HEART….while STILL utilizing that distinct visual style.  And we see this in the lovely scene FOLLOWING that gruesome trailer moment….when Danny Aielllo’s Louis is treating Jacob’s back pain, the purpose of this whole journey starts to make sense…but portrayed though acts of KINDNESS rather than violence.  For directing what I believe is his best overall film, Adrian Lyne is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

All around, this movie really holds up....all leading to a go-for-broke emotional ending which feels very earned! Happy 35th Anniversary to one of the best horror films of the ‘90’s!! 

Streaming on Prime Video, fubo, & Paramount Plus