MovieChat Forums > Jacob's Ladder (1990) Discussion > This is the only movie...

This is the only movie...

posted 13 years ago by mistela67
17 replies | jump to latest

...that actually scares me enough to where I have to stop watching it, sometimes. I'm the type who's not impacted by slasher movies, because I always think in the back of my mind that if I had someone chasing me, I'd just shoot the SOB. Ghost oriented movies, to me, are predictable or silly, and thus don't impact me. Movies about Satan only have limited effect. But any movie about the damned afterlife, stuff that can't be figured out, or analyzed. Those movies get me all the time. This one, bar none, is the best.

When I first saw this one, I actually couldn't sleep for a few nights. No movie since then has had that effect on me. JL is the only move that has ever psychologically bothered me enough to where I can't always watch it.

Good movie.

[–] TakeMyID 13 years ago

I experience similar feelings whenever I watch the movie, although I can usually get through the entire movie. After I saw it for the first time, I walked out of my room and didn't really know what to do because my mind had just been blown. The only other movie to do that to me was (REC). I watched that during the day and was totally freaked out. I had trouble over the next couple days whenever it was dark or I was alone!

[–] rogerwatersfan3 13 years ago

*SPOILERS*

Well, this isn't really about the afterlife. Jacob doesn't die until the end of the movie.

[–] Freddyfan951 11 years ago

This is probably one of the only horror films to actually frighten me, it al seemed so real and very sad. And inevitable, I was very worried for where I was going afterwards. Very well written.

[–] CinemaNaut 11 years ago

It did have the same effect on me the first 2 times I saw it.

But nowadays I think that knowing that there's a happy ending ruins the scary parts somewhat.
It would've benefited from a slighly more ambiguous ending, that would've made subsequent rewatches more enjoyable and scary.

[–] kylopod 10 years ago

I also found it to be one of the scarier movies I've ever seen, to the point that I still have trouble watching some scenes. (I saw it first about 10 years ago during a college course about mental illness in the movies, and again recently.) But to me it's so much more than a horror movie--it's also an absorbing and moving drama. How many so-called "horror" pictures would you say are moving in addition to being scary?

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] normkerr123 10 years ago

I think that what makes this movie so great is that it does not stoop to "gotcha", ambiguous endings and "oops, here we go again" teasers which only lead to sequels (the great wasteland of movie makers with no new ideas).

Instead, it scares the heck out of us by being graphically unsettling in some very close-to-the-bone ways, and then it elevates all of that by being, in the end an uplifting and rewarding tale.

THAT is why it is so much better than typical slasher movies that seek only to make you jump.

[–] RC-Cola 10 years ago

I love reading posts like yours because Jacob's Ladder is a real gem of a film if it gets under your skin that way. There really is nothing else quite like it. Such a weird unnerving mood throughout the movie.

Probably seen it about 10+ times by now over the years so unfortunately the imagery is not as scary when you have the scenes all memorized, but it's still amazing, frightening, and unsettling.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] desara3 10 years ago

I loved Triangle, I recommend it to everybody. Also the The Others gives shivers down my spine.

[–] DracTarashV 10 years ago

Although it kinda loses its effectiveness after the first or second viewing (naturally), it is still a very unsettling film to watch.

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!

[–] ZakkVanBurace 9 years ago

Wow this actually shocks me. I'm scared of a great deal of horror movies but when I watched this one I wasn't scared at all, in fact I wouldn't classify Jacob's Ladder as a horror movie. Mind you, I love it, it gets 9/10 from me, but scary? Not for me; I'm surprised anyone could be scared by this, but hey, each person has different fears I guess.

[–] Drooch (5333) 4 years ago

Given that the film is laden with horrific demonic imagery it’s not that ‘surprising’ that people find it scary.

[–] jackiefoxybrown 9 years ago

Agreed. I'm 30 years old and I have been watching this movie ever since I was a little girl. I just know that I have always rendered this film very disturbing, dark and gritty.
I'm actually watching it right now, been so long since I've seen it......I forgot alot of it.
Watching it really makes you feel for the main character. Robbins is so friggin believable, he makes me feel as if I'm the one that lost the son, is seeing the horrifying visions, etc.