Jacob's Ladder (1990) | 100 Movies Bucket List

 

I'd only seen the 2019 remake of this movie, so this was a new watch. I had no idea how close or far apart the movies would be, or if they'd have the same twists, but I liked the direction the newer one went in, so I was looking forward to seeing this version.

I also always look forward to psychological horrors in particular, which made me even more intrigued about this one.

I really liked this movie.

The beginning of the film does a good job of establishing the character of Jacob. You really feel like you know him and he's a great character to follow.

We get the psychological horror aspects from almost the very beginning; we have a character who very obviously cannot trust his own mind, and that's a really interesting dynamic from an audience point of view. This is the character we're following, so if he can't trust his mind, we can't trust anything we see either.

And the more the film leans into this, the better it is.

It's great that the film can do this in a way that isn't confusing. Even when we're in alternate realities we still know what's going on and can follow the story.

Most of this is down to how good the writing is - the story really takes us along with it rather than leaving us behind. Despite the character's mind being so confused and unfocused, the movie is easy to follow and constantly engaging.

But it also works well because the actors are so great. Tim Robbins in particular is great in this role. He creates a really intriguing, likeable protagonist who easily and authentically fits into all the worlds the character finds himself in.

The supporting actors are also great, and again feel authentic when it comes to portraying the characters that assist in telling this story.

The reveal was really interesting. I didn't love everything about it, particularly the things that I could guess, but it does make you look at the overall film in a new way.

I do have to say, while this is a better movie than the 2019 remake, watching this made me appreciate the way the newer one went in a completely different direction to do something original, and I do think that reveal worked better for me than this one.

That being said, this is a great movie and I'm really glad I've seen it!