Jacob’s Ladder is a disorienting psychological horror film filled with manic and terrifying visuals. The seams of Jacob’s world are never stable, and you can never be entirely sure what is real. The story itself is following a Vietnam War veteran through a winding mystery as he tries to understand his past and why he is falling victim to horrific hallucinations. On top of this he witnesses his former platoon mates being killed off one by one in New York City. While I will try to avoid spoilers as much as possible, if you do not want to be clued in, please watch the movie before continuing onward. If you do not have the constitution for a truly mind blowing bit of horror, it’s best to leave this one to horror veterans.

1. All of the special effects were done in camera.

Some of the most terrifying moments of the film happen when characters become blurs through the use of low frame rates being accelerated in post production. Actors kept their bodies still and shook their heads quickly while the camera was “undercranking.” Jacob’s Ladder was the first movie to employ this technique with its horrific face blurring, though it has become a recurring element in body horror movies. Adrian Lyne was inspired by the surreal and grotesque style of Francis Bacon’s artwork. The effect gave the film a frantic feeling, which only added to the dread and paranoia when watching it.



2. Real life disorders influenced the visual style.

The book and screenplay for the film were a lot heavier on biblical and demonic visuals, but director Adrian Lyne wanted a more human aesthetic. The people in the asylum and during Jacob’s dissociative moments are based on Thalidomide birth defects and the photographic work of Diane Arbus and and Joel-Peter Witkin. Thalidomide is a leprosy and cancer treatment and if taken during the early part of pregnancy can cause massive birth defects including deformed limbs, blindness, and much more. Lyne believed that this would be much more shocking than traditional demonic styling. Also, don’t google it. You’ll just get depressed.

3. The Silent Hill connection.

The Silent Hill series of games from Konami were heavily influenced by Jacob’s Ladder. In the second game, the look of the main protagonist is based off of Jacob. They wear the same jacket and share the same initials. Along with this, the subway station featured in the beginning of Jacob’s Ladder is in Silent Hill 3, and they both emerge on Bergen street. The franchise also features a hospital with similar beings inside. The “bad ending” in the first Silent Hill game concludes with the exact same revelation as Jacob’s Ladder.

The games also relied on slow-building environmental terror rather than just jump scares. The slow burn and the lines of reality blurring are prominent features of both franchises. Several creatures twitch and blur like the people in Jacob’s Ladder. There are even posters directly taken from the subway scene and keys that feature the director’s name.

4. The name “Jacob’s Ladder” is a reference to a story in Genesis.

A biblical patriarch named Jacob is said to have had a dream about a ladder to heaven. In the dream, angels ascended and descended from the great ladder. The passage’s symbolic meaning varies between sects of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Some look at it as an illustration of the path righteous people must walk to gain salvation, others as an allegory for what the messiah would give to man.

(Spoilers)

In the context of the movie, Jacob’s Ladder is where the afterlife connects with finite life. It’s the bridge between Jacob’s dying moments and his coming to peace with his slipping mortality. The movie itself is often thought to be the stripping down of Jacob’s earthly existence and his ascension in death. This concept, along with ideas pulled from the Tibetan Book of the Dead and Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State come from the script writer Bruce Joel Rubin’s eclectic spiritual upbringing.

5. The government has experimented on soldiers with illicit drugs.

While Jacob’s Ladder has spiritual connotations, the movie also explores drug related experimentation by the military. The Ladder is a fictional experimental drug that would overtake a soldier’s mental faculties and fill them with blind rage. The after effects of this drug are supposedly what is causing the soldier’s hallucinations. This was based on experiments run by the government on compounds like BZ and LSD. Projects like MK Ultra were CIA studies that would determine the possible benefits of debilitating hallucinatory drugs used for combat or interrogations. Most studies have concluded that these drugs do not create a violent “maniac” state for soldiers, but are rather incapacitating. They also make tie die clothes, like, really cool. Man.

Jacob’s Ladder continues to be one of the trippier film experiences for horror fans. Between stellar performances from Tim Robbins and Elizabeth Peña, the film is well crafted and completely engaging. It’s not a movie to be taken lightly. Critic Roger Ebert once said the film left him, “reeling with turmoil and confusion, with feelings of sadness and despair. A thoroughly painful and depressing experience – but, it must be said, one that has been powerfully written, directed and acted.” For being 26 years old the film holds up well. The special effects are as terrifying today as they were in 1990. Jacob’s Ladder should be considered mandatory watching for horror and psychological thriller fans.

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Tony Southcotte: Tony hails from the Rocky Mountains somewhere around the state of Colorado. Possibly raised by grizzly bears, this gritty denizen of the arena now spends most of his time grappling with Java updates and dysfunctional RAM. With not much fiction under his belt, it might seem tempting to bet against Mister Southcotte, but an impressive knowledge of everything from PVC pipe to psychedelic drugs makes Tony a storehouse of fiction waiting to hit the paper. Plus, you know, there’s the possibility of him ripping you apart like a grizzly bear.