This Day in Horror History: JACOB’S LADDER Opened in 1990
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, director Adrian Lyne’s arthouse horror flick Jacob’s Ladder with Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, and Danny Aiello opened in 1990.
Written by Bruce Joel Rubin (Brainstorm, Deadly Friend, Ghost), the film follows veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) who struggles to maintain his sanity after returning home from the Vietnam War. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie (Elizabeth Peña), and ex-wife, Sarah (Patricia Kalember), try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer’s chiropractor friend, Louis (Danny Aiello), fails to reach him as he descends into madness.
Produced by Alan Marshall (Angel Heart, Basic Instinct, Showgirls), Jacob’s Ladder was made ten years after being written by Rubin. Rubin said about the film: “The horror of the movie would be in the revelation that hope is hell’s final torment, that life is a dream that ends over and over with the final truth: that life was never real, that we are all creatures trapped in eternal suffering and damnation.”
Notable co-stars include Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Kyle Gass (Tenacious D), Lewis Black (Accepted), and Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone). The film took the number one spot at the box office opening weekend snagging $7.5M from 1,052 screens. Its overall domestic box office was $26.1M.
A remake written by Jeff Buhler (Pet Sematary, The Prodigy), Sarah Thorp, and Jake Wade Wall and directed by David M. Rosenthal was released in 2019. The film stars Jesse Williams (The Cabin in the Woods, Radom Acts of Violence).
The cult classic sports a 73% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes with a Critics Consensus that reads: Even with its disorienting leaps of logic and structure, Jacob’s Ladder is an engrossing, nerve-shattering experience.
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