JACOB'S LADDER | The Haunting Aftermath of War 

Join our top secret upcoming project... ru-vid.com/show-UCHrajuBG_V1mzJWv38lnoEA *CORRECTION - The Meister Eckhart quote was not given to Jacob by the lawyer, it was given by his chiropractor Louis. My brain was a bit fried scriptwriting after this film's wildness 😂 #ForgiveTheGhouls - Connor

One little correction, it wasn't the lawyer who said the quote. It was Jacob's chiropractor who incidentally is hinted to be an angel himself.

YES! I've been asking for this one for awhile and y'all completely nailed it. That quote that his chiropractor makes has always stuck with me and made me question life.

This movie is straight bonkers at times and I absolutely love it. Definitely a top 20 movie of all time for me personally

not sure if this is true or not but i heard this movie inspired parts of silent hill, im guessing the psychological aspects and themes of redemption are similar. another good movie which deals with psychological horror is "the machinist" with christian bale. its pretty messed up, not as scary as jacobs ladder but pretty unsettling.

When you get to the point where we find out Jacob dies in Vietnam, the only thing I would like to say is I feel the movie is showing us the journey of Jacob's soul, not his mind. The demons are trying to get him to the afterlife and Jacob, or his soul, is not ready. His soul is fighting the unfairness of his death. Something I think you missed is the movie is titled, 'Jacob's Ladder'. This is the stairway to heaven in the Bible. Watch how the film uses stairways. The stairs up are sealed off when he tries to exit the subway. When he is climbing the stairs at the party he is stopped from getting to the top. The only time he is permitted to fully ascend any stairway is at the end with his son when he finally accepts his death. Also, the movie does not jump in time at all. It is showing exactly what is happening to his soul in real time.

Interestingly, BZ is a real drug, it's full name is 3-Quinuclidynil Benzilate, and it was invented by the Swiss drug company Hoffman-Laroche in 1951.

Jacob being followed by the powers that be for what he said, reminded me of Gary Webb and what he uncovered. Iran/Contra, drugs, weapons for money under Reagan.

The VA, after 5 months - "Not service connected"

Great movie

Couldn’t be more WRONG. The beginning is a very normal subway commute in nyc. It’s actually the most normal part of the film.

Man, I love this movie, the main reason that Silent Hill exists. Rare to have a horror movie that's also a decent war film aswell. One of the only movies to make me tear up. Honestly one if the best psychological horrors ever made imo, it's up there with all the others in The Shining, The Exorcist etc

The movie is unsettling like a really bad trip and there's no way out but to wait for it to wear off. But you get that unsettling feeling like "what if I'm stuck like this... in this world?" I feel more like the lead character was stuck in pergatory.

me and the friends i made in residential mental health treatment (a 3 month stay) all watched this one night in the common space hahaha. one of the couple schizophrenic kids i made friends with was like "hey guys this movie is super good, it actually triggered my first psychotic episode we should watch it i'm on antipsychotics" and it was really good. hope yr chillin renee, still taking yr antipsychs and vibing. no war.

The thing thats truly frightening about this movie is the sense of confusion and unease that seems to hide in plain sight during Jacobs daily life, like a predator waiting in the shadows.

My great uncle lost an eye and most of the musculature in his face due to agent orange in Vietnam, lost his mind too, this movie always reminds me of him

People talk about the American Psycho switch-up with the guy not having died, but i've always loved the 'you were never in Nam' reveal. So effective.

Back then I watched that knowing nothing but the cover. It really got me off guard and it's a great movie. No one believed him and that's a fear that caught me. I thought back and forth: is he losing his mind or is this really happening? That was fun to watch!

It's clear to see how much this influenced the aesthetics of the silent hill genre.

When I was a lot younger, I worked with some Vietnam vets in my firehouse. Some of the things they'd talk about sounded like some conspiracy bullshit. However, the more I learned about what the Gov't did to their own soldiers, I got a completely new outlook on this war!

Jacob's Ladder uses the same device as An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge; a Twilight Zone episode based on an Ambrose Bierce short story where a Civil War southern spy is about to be hung by Union soldiers when the rope breaks and he escapes only to find it's all a dream and he's hung and dies. The use of drugs to enhance aggression among U. S. soldiers is featured in the science fiction novel Life During Wartime by Lucius Shepard where the drug's called Sammy(short for Samurai).

the "meister eckhart" quote in this film was transformative for me - when i first heard it and really took it in, it just changed alot of how i was trying to make sense of life and it helped me alot

The shaking head entity was taken from the work of photographer Joel-Peter Witkins- who has a photograph identical to the scene titled ‘man with no legs’ Witkins work is definitely worth checking out - allegedly he used cadavers to produce some of his his images.

This is such a brilliant film

When I was a kid this movie was playing in a video rental store I went into with my dad. I was very young maybe 3 or 4 and it was the scene with the doctors that don't have eyes. It scared me so bad I remember it to this day nearly 30 years later

Jacobs Ladder, Naked Lunch, Lost Highway - those were some amazing films. My Mom mustve thought I was nuts loving this stuff so much.

I was a child visiting the US when this came out. Some of the haunting imagery was used in the commercials and it really stuck with me. They even did a tie-in Halloween event at one of the theme parks from memory. Thanks for the vid, never felt like watching it through but cool to see your synopsis.

And to think that there was an even more intense crazier original version of the movie 😳 I don’t know if those scenes were actually shot but they are still in the original script and the description of those scenes is nuts lol

Here's another indicator about Jacob's fate. He starts in a subway that he can't get out of and finally manages to get out and "ascend" the steps. Also, his girlfriend being named "Jezabel" which is a demon in Hebrew myth known to seduce men's souls.

This is a think person's horror movie. What I enjoy most about it is the ambiguities and nothing is ever definitively answered. My own interpretation is that the only reality is the scenes in Vietnam. I think Jacob might have been a mailman before joining the military, but it wasn't his son who was killed but he accidentally struck and killed a young boy, whom he mentally adopted as his own. It was the guilt that might have driven him to enlist or was drafted as a punishment for his involvement in this boy's death. Whether or not the others in his family existed is open to speculation --I think it's part of an elaborate fantasy to soften the guilt. The most truly angelic figure would be Jacob's chiropractor played by Danny Aiello and tries to guide him through his nightmare. One might see it as "nightmare fuel" but I see it as being very sad. The performances by all the actors is outstanding, especially Tim Robbins who makes you very symptomatic towards him. I saw this when it was initially released and I knew that it something very special. I never had the interest to see the remake. What's great about this are the practical effects, which still make me jump.

Kinda wish more horror movies were like this.

Cinematic masterpiece. And Tim Robbins was in another one just 3 years later, with Shawshank Redemption.

I stumbled upon Jacob's Ladder on tv when I was like 10, even though I couldn't understand the plot back then it was clear that the terror was much more deep than something like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Str.

Man this movie is absolutely awesome, is the kind of movie the would never be made today. I remember watching it in the 90's in my later teens and I was having a fever, and in the scene where Jacobs is dying in the bathtub from a fever my fever got 10x worse and I almost collapsed, I've had the real augmented reality experience !

I've heard about this film a lot and I always thought it was about an alien abduction. This is way weirder than I thought it was going to be.

Thank you! This film is one of those perfectly composed movies that (at least upon first viewing), you have no idea what is really going on. It's only upon repeated visits to it that you understand. It's up there with Angel Heart as far as suspenseful writing and storylines go, and it's stuffed with the fuel nightmares are made of. I remember watching it in the theater and that ending....it shook me to my soul. Danny Aiello was perfect in his role - helping Jacob while nudging him closer to the inevitable truth. "....demons are really angels - freeing you from the earth."

I remember seeing this at the cinema. It was one of those bizarre movies that you don't really see so much anymore. I remember not being 100% certain even when he died in Vietnam if parts of his life in New York were memories as well as fantasy. It was a truly disturbing film to watch and one I could not watch now due to my own less slid mental state. But it was really interesting to revisit in your video. Thank you.

I've always loved this movie. It reminds me of when I hadn't started treatment for CPTSD.

This film is amazing. Spoilers but the whole point of the film is that he never left the war (both figuratively and literally). It's a film about PTSD, basically. It was way ahead of it's time.

"1 chemical that impacted Jacob Singer when he returned home, was _Nightmare Fuel._ " Me: *cracks up laughing so hard I had to pause the video & comment* You're not wrong. Between David Lynch & Francis Bacon, this movie takes the influences of other Surreal-Horror Genre Legends & puts them back together in a way that's had Landmark Influences on the Genres of Horror in Films, Games, Art & Writing. (Silent Hill, Major Artists like Stephen King, Junji Ito & Akira Yamaoka, the list goes on & on. Psychological Horror that 'most people' (general audiences) could maybe understand. Or not. Most people believe that Jacob was just hallucinating his memories when he died in surgery in Nam. I prefer to believe he did die but in his apartment of a stroke & his dead son DID come back to Guide Jacob through the Gate of Death. To heaven? IDK or care. Semantics. Someplace Else. That's all the story needed & WHAT A GREAT STORY!) EDIT: Hey Ghouls, I don't ever expect you to make a vid on this but if you want to watch a TRUELY INSANE MOVIE, see if you can find a Japanese Horror Movie named Ji-Goku. It's an old Black & White film that is... Jabcob's Ladder but for a Japanese Audience. I'm not saying the Directors-Writers of JL 'copied' Ji-Goku but it's very hard not to see the similarity. They say the nicest form of flattery is imitation... Anyway, you might enjoy it. It's a very slow burn but it goes F&CKING BANANAS from the 40% point onwards. Like... David Lynch Eraserhead levels of 'IS THIS FOR REAL?' No, it's hyper-reality. BUT IS IT? MAYBE. )

Im tired of movies only portraying soldiers aftermath of war but never civilians😒 Maybe america needs a war on its own lands so Hollywood would change the bvllsh1t 😂

Love the cameo by a Pre-Daily Show Lewis Black.

Your analysis is on point, very well made and narrated. Thank you Connor!

This is one of the best horror films ever made.

What film would you like to see as an episode of NIGHTMARE FUEL? - Connor

This movie _really_ pissed me off. There weren't _any_ ladders in it! WTF?! False advertising!!

9:52 "Even the color palette of New York is washed out, dull and lifeless" No, thats just how NYC is IRL

This is why my assessment of Beau Is Afraid is like if Jacob's Ladder and Peewee's Big Adventure had a baby.

It’s been awhile since a film genuinely scared me but the first time I watched this was definitely unnerving. It’s as close to scared as I get, a much younger me would have definitely been terrified, though the theme have gone over my head(not a lack of comprehension but the maturity to fully appreciate it).

The plot somewhat mirrors the plot structure of a book by William Golding (Lord of the Flies) called 'Pincher Martin'.

One of the best psychological horror movies ever made one of my favorite films. Fantastic film.

I knew something was up immediately because he's stabbed with an American rifle and bayonet

They were not fighting for their country lets be honest. They were fooled into fighting. The north and south vietnamese were fighting for their country.

My bestfriend was Schizophrenic and showed me this film. It scared the sh×t out of me.

never heard of this movie, had to pause mid way to watch it unfold myself. damn good recommendation

Love this movie. One snag with the story though. If none of this really happened and it was all the last moments of a dying mans mind coping with death, then the guy who explained the ladder drug program never happened either. So how did this information get to him?

One of the best films ever created! Adrian Lyne is a genius. Fun fact: when i was in the band, Dread, we recorded our 4th EP with his nephew Dave, in Attleboro, MA. at Up Froggy studios. Before my song, Murder, we used the sample from the scene at the chiropractor.

yea but why did he imagine a life with Jessybelle from the post office? what was the point of that?

such a brilliantly thought movie, need to watch more like this.

Night are fuel

As a child and still in drawn to horror, but I’ve never seen this whole film. As a child, something about it was so unsettling that I could take it in and my mind still revolts from it for some unknown reason. The only movie with this effect.

I dunno if I'd be surprised if I saw someone with a tail/tentacle on the nyc subway. I've seen worse. Once you leave manhattan, all bets are off.

Downloaded this movie years ago, never watched it. Glad I didn't. Thank you for taking the hit for me.

Iconic movie.

The anti malarial drugs chloroguanide and the newer mefloquine sometimes cause patients to have intense, vivid, horrifying nightmares to the extent they fear sleep.

Two interesting characters are the seer and Gabriel, we can't confirm that his son passed away, or more like Jacob was responsable of his accident. This is taking in a different way, seems like Jacob feels guilt for his own fate. This could explain that the accident of the most beloved one, this is actually a mirror situation, that what Gabe is gonna do without his father. The seer in the other half, seems like a real seer, she is warning Jacob and the audience, what is going on in reality. Walking up stairs with Gabriel, this is why I don't believe his son indeed had an accident, since the archangel Gabriel is the angel of birth, but also of afterlife.

What is twisted about this film and adds a layer of mystique to the plot and weight to the religious thematics, is the fact that the shadowy characters tormenting Jacob represent the power apparatus of the military industrial complex, which in reality IS in power has been operating in the shadows for generations and very much lords over an array of all kinds of historical and cartoonishly dark conspiracies, and is responsible for untold suffering, horror, death and psychological manipulation. Making this film possibly the most strikingly rich psychological horror film that manages to comment on everything from life and death, the question of reality, trauma, religion and mental illness to war and violence, imperialism and conspiracy. Absolutely brilliant film, way ahead of its time.

The pandemonium captures the fog of war so well. I appreciate it for deeply paining me. The movie war scenes we can learn a lot from. /Cry

Fantastic film and a great summary and analysis. It's also worth mentioning the absolutely massive influence this film had on Silent Hill 1-4 with certain shots and scenes being directly referenced.

Shepherd's Chapel Network !!!!!!! Chapter by Chapter / Verse by Verse !!!!!!! Amen

Homeless tentacle dudes in the subway is par for the coarse in nyc.this movie scared the shit outta me as a kid

The Bergen F/G stop! I guess he lived in Carrol Gardens or Cobble Hill

This is my theory of the signs in the Subway. The first signs says “New York may be a crazy town, but you’ll never die of boredom. Enjoy!”. The second sign says “HELL. That’s what life can be, doing drugs. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Help is available, day or night. THE DRUG HOTLINE * 246-9300”. The second sign is not a reference to the drugs Jacob was exposed to. The movie purposely does not give you the viewer enough time to read both signs on the subway . You read the first sign “New York may be” then suddenly without the movie letting you read the rest it jumps to the second sign where the movie barely lets you read the word “HELL” and nothing else then it cuts away. As the viewer you are meant to make a statement in your mind from the two pieces of each sign the movie let’s you read. In your mind you put both parts that you read on each sign as “New York may be HELL.” (Notice that HELL has a period at the end even though it isn’t a sentence. But by just reading what the movie barely gives you time to read you make the full sentence that I mentioned.)

They took top many Benadryl gel caps. AKA the Ladder.

My gay best friend Nick Mullen told me to watch this

I think the series “ Lost” had a very similar feel to Jacobs ladder too

As an eleven year old watching this I loved the scene where the horn comes out of his girlfriends mouth cmon its the best scene 😮

Why is this listed as a Fundraiser? What is the Fundraiser for?

Is the icebath scene when jacob dies in the real world? After that is when he reunites with his im assuming dead war buddies and the movie really kicks it into crazy immagery. Also the party scene right before feels like jacob seeing hell for the first time and witnessing the unimaginable horror that await

Avenged sevenfold nightmare is from this movie, now I see why

To this day, i still dont know what that twitching head really looks behind the carseat from that one scene.

I believe they were studying 'berserker' energy.

I saw this video and decided to watch it first, christ. I have never seen a film hit this hard.

Also may I ask where were you able to watch this guys I have been looking through many streaming services and I can't seem to find it. Great video guys guys its given me some inspiration to tackle something which isn't Jacob's Ladder but might have been an influence. Look out for that review on my channel when it comes all the best ghoul gang 👍☺

My dad had me watch this at 16 and I’ve hated my government ever since

This was the movie referenced in rick and morty i think.

I thought this was going to be about Huey Lewis and the News

War is more tragic than death.

I love how this film was inspired by the Bardos of death described in the Tibetan book of the dead

Night are fuel

"Jacob's Ladder" is on my top 10 list of greatest movies of all time!

This movie was FUCKING TERRIFYING.

GREAT flick - saw it years ago

This is the only movie to scare me. It isn't like a monster movie where the monster can be stopped and if the monster gets you, well you don't have to deal with it anymore. This? There is no escape, you cannot reason with these forces, you cannot fight it. The only thing you can do is accept it, even then we are unsure if that will offer you salvation.

This movie is a pure class masterpiece!

Silent Hills mommy.

The film is a clever adaptation of Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Always one of my favorite movies, for all the surrealism it still feels so grounded. Like one step in reality and one in a dream, which makes it even more creepy

The remake is better. Hahaha i'm kidding, it's awful, truly awful

Do you have one on johnny got his gun? At first i thought that was this movie when i saw the title… that movie, the most disturbing one ive ever seen