Review of Jacob's Ladder (1990) by Arash X — 05 Sep 2008

During the 90s many people considered this the scariest movie ever!!! But it's not, the scariest thing was the fast slow-motion shaky effect of some of the people in the movie. I'm talking about the special effects used mostly in Japanese horror movies where the ghosts bodies move slow but fast. Confusing when I type it, but I think you can figure it out.

Onto the main point of the movie. Jacob believes that he is in the real world after surviving Vietnam where he was stabbed (or shot). While in this "real world," he sees demons (with filed down horns) and believes the government performed LSD experiments on him and his 'Nam buddies. But Jacob is actually trapped in purgatory and his soul has not yet crossed over to heaven or hell yet. He has to make the choice. In the end, he reunites with his dead son and crosses over to heaven. Then the doctors in 'Nam pronounce him dead. Okay movie, but it would be complicated for some viewers to follow. The special effects are not as effective now due to so many movies using the same effects these days.