Adrian Lyne, who made the smash hit Fatal Attraction, directed Jacob’s Ladder, a psychological horror film, produced by Alan Marshall and written by Bruce Joel Rubin.
The film stars Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer, an American infantryman whose experiences before and during his service in Vietnam result in strange, fragmentary visions and bizarre hallucinations that continue to haunt him. As his ordeal worsens, Jacob desperately attempts to figure out the truth.
The film’s supporting cast includes Elizabeth Peña and Danny Aiello.
On October 6, 1971, American infantryman Jacob Singer is with the 1st Air Cavalry Division, deployed in a village in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, when his close-knit unit comes under sudden attack. As many of Jacob’s comrades are killed or wounded, others exhibit abnormal behavior with some suffering catatonia, convulsions, and seizures. Jacob flees into the jungle, only to be stabbed with a bayonet by an unseen assailant.
Jacob returns to his family’s home, where he finds Gabe, who leads him up the staircase into a bright light. The scene turns to a triage tent in 1971 as military doctors declare Jacob dead.
In the end, the doctor notes that Jacob had put up tremendous fight to stay alive, and that he looked peaceful in death.
Despite only being moderately successful upon its release, the film garnered a small cult following, and its plot and special effects became a source of influence for various other works, such as the Silent Hill video game series.
A remake was released in 2019.
Cast
Tim Robbins as Jacob “Professor” Singer
Elizabeth Peña as Jezebel “Jezzie” Pipkin
Danny Aiello as Louis “Louie” Denardo
Matt Craven as Michael Newman
Pruitt Taylor Vince as Paul Gruneger
Jason Alexander as Mr. Geary
Patricia Kalember as Sarah Singer
Eriq La Salle as Frank
Ving Rhames as George
Brian Tarantina as Doug
Anthony Alessandro as Rod
Brent Hinkley as Jerry
S. Epatha Merkerson as Elsa
Kyle Gass as Tony
Lewis Black as Jacob’s doctor
Perry Lang as Jacob’s assailant
Macaulay Culkin as Gabriel “Gabe” Singer
