Jacob’s Ladder is a horror film with elements of a psychological thriller and drama. In general, the picture has absorbed a large number of genres. Even mysticism has a place here. And yet, Jacob’s Ladder was filmed back in 1990. The film is extraordinary. It can even be called a drama. Or one of the best horror films of its time. A whole mixture of genres creates a fascinating spectacle. There are many questions and ideas raised here. The main thing is that the viewer enjoys it.
But “Jacob’s Ladder” almost did not receive fame. At one time there was a famous TV series “Missing” or “Lost”. It had the immortal character Jacob or, in other words, Jacob. So, the series was filmed in relatively modern times. Then they also started talking about Jacob’s Ladder. There was some analogy with what is happening in the series. However, in terms of the amount of mysticism, the Lost series was significantly ahead of all works in the horror and thriller genres of those times. But Jacob’s Ladder itself did not receive fame in those years. Again, rental fees are to blame.
How many wonderful tapes are left in the distant past, which had great stories, but failed at the box office. It was the same with Jacob’s Ladder. But still, she was able to get out of the maelstrom of time. Shine again. Why ? And the thing is that in addition to the European viewer, who did not accept the picture well, there is also a Japanese viewer. They have different values in cinema. Therefore, “Jacob’s Ladder” fell in love with the Japanese. Moreover, these were not ordinary people, but Japanese game designers from Konami.
They took the plot of this picture and used it to write the script for Silent Hill. Well, this is a real cult. The developers of this famous game have always said that it was Jacob’s Ladder that formed the basis of the plot of the games in this series. This is even written in the manual for the game. The creators of Silent Hill themselves say that the games use all the main plot moves of the film. And not only the script was taken from the film. Camera rotations, details of the main character’s clothing, general visualization were added to the games. In general, everything was borrowed. Thus, thanks to the success of the game “Silent Hill”, the painting “Jacob’s Ladder” received a second fame.
The film is really worth watching. It does not have the templates that became the hallmark of horror films before 1990. Among them, suddenly appearing monsters, a sharp change in the atmosphere, and so on. For example, young people are sitting nicely at a picnic in the forest, talking, getting ready to do adult things. Suddenly? Once and there is an uncle with an ax or an invasion of zombies. It could be anything. The effect is in suddenness, in a sharp change in the atmosphere in the frame from a fun melodrama to a horror movie. Well, Jacob’s Ladder doesn’t have any of that. We must forget about the different patterns of this genre.
There are also no classic monsters that scare the viewer with a terrible appearance. There is none of this. Horror films with such effects took shape for many years in the nineties, they still walked with might and main on the TV screen. But in “Jacob’s Ladder” there are no such stamps. Despite this, the atmosphere of horror is present to the fullest. How is this achieved? To put it simply, we are simply shown the ordinary life of the main character. During the day he is awake and nothing happens, but at night real horror awaits him. Dreams are the creepy part of this movie. There is only fear everywhere. But what exactly is scary? If you take one creepy frame, you can not make out what is on it. Maybe it’s some kind of creature or is it something else? That’s what “Jacob’s Ladder” takes. She shows horror without horror. Terrible dreams.
The film has many original finds that other horror creators have taken on. For example, at first the actor is shown in slow motion, but then the speed of the image increases until it turns into a blur.
Jacob’s Ladder has a standard plot ending, but what comes before it is a real masterpiece. Undoubtedly, this is a classic of the horror genre. Film for all time.
