Jacob's Ladder (1990 film)

Last updated

Jacob's Ladder
Jacobsladderposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Adrian Lyne
Written by Bruce Joel Rubin
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Jeffrey L. Kimball
Edited by Tom Rolf
Music by Maurice Jarre
Production
company
Distributed by Tri-Star Pictures
Release date
  • November 2, 1990 (1990-11-02)(United States)
Running time
113 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million [2]
Box office$26.1 million [3]

Jacob's Ladder is a 1990 American psychological horror film [4] directed by Adrian Lyne, produced by Alan Marshall and written by Bruce Joel Rubin. The film stars Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer, an American postman whose experiences before and during his military 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.

Contents

Jacob's Ladder was made by Carolco Pictures ten years after being written by Rubin. Despite only being moderately successful upon its release, the film garnered a 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. The film's remake by the same title was released in 2019.

Plot

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 awakens in the New York City Subway, where, after glimpsing what he believes to be a tentacle protruding from a sleeping homeless person, an inexplicably locked subway station exit results in him almost being hit by a train. The year is 1975; he is a postal worker and lives in a rundown apartment in Brooklyn with his girlfriend, Jezebel. Jacob misses his old family and experiences visions of them, especially the youngest of his sons, Gabe, who had died in an accident before the war. Jacob is increasingly beset by disturbing experiences and apparitions, including glimpses of faceless vibrating figures, and narrowly escapes being run over by a pursuing car. He attempts to contact his regular doctor at the local VA hospital, but after being told that there is no record of him ever being a patient there, Jacob is told that his doctor has died in a car explosion.

At a party thrown by friends, a psychic reads Jacob's palm and tells him that he is already dead, which Jacob dismisses as a joke. After declining to dance with her, he appears to witness an enormous creature penetrating Jezebel before he collapses. At home, Jacob experiences a dangerous fever, which Jezebel attempts to bring down with a painful ice bath. Jacob briefly wakes up in another reality where he lives with his wife and sons, including a still-alive Gabe. First-person perspective scenes of apparent flashbacks to his time in Vietnam show Jacob, badly wounded, being discovered by American soldiers before being evacuated under fire in a helicopter that is then shot down.

One of Jacob's former platoon mates, Paul, contacts him to reveal he is suffering from similar experiences, but is soon afterwards killed when his car explodes. Commiserating after the funeral, other surviving members of the platoon confess that they have all been experiencing horrifying hallucinations. Believing that they are suffering the effects of a military experiment performed on them without their knowledge or consent, they hire a lawyer to investigate. However, the lawyer quits the case after reading military files documenting that the soldiers were never in combat and were discharged for psychological reasons. Jacob's comrades soon back down while Jacob suspects they have been threatened into doing so. He is abducted by suited men who try to intimidate him. Jacob fights them and escapes but is injured and nearly paralyzed in the process. He is taken to a nightmarish hospital, where he is told he has been killed and this is his home, but his chiropractor friend Louis comes to his rescue and heals him. Louis quotes the 14th-century Christian mystic Meister Eckhart:

Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: "The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you", he said. "They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and ... you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth."

Jacob is approached by a distressed man who had been following him from a distance and who also dragged him away from Paul's burning car. Introducing himself as Michael Newman, he tells a story of having been a chemist with the Army's chemical warfare division where he designed a drug he called the Ladder, which massively increased aggression. Michael claims that, to test the drug's effectiveness, a dose was secretly given to Jacob's unit before the battle, causing some of them to turn on each other in a homicidal frenzy. Michael's story triggers a vision of Jacob wounded in Vietnam, which shows his attacker as a fellow American soldier. Jacob returns to his family's home, where he finds Gabe, who takes him by the hand and leads him up the staircase into a bright light. The scene turns to a triage tent in 1971 as military medics declare Jacob dead, commenting that he had put up a tremendous fight to stay alive but now looks peaceful in death.

Cast

Production

The horror of the movie would be in the revelation that hope is hell's final torment, that life is a dream that ends over and over with the final truth: that life was never real, that we are all creatures trapped in eternal suffering and damnation.

–Bruce Joel Rubin [5]

The film's title refers to the Biblical story of Jacob's Ladder, or the dream of a meeting place between Heaven and Earth (Genesis 28:12). Its little-known alternative title is Dante's Inferno, in a reference to Inferno by Dante Alighieri. [6] [7] [8] Screenwriter and co-producer Bruce Joel Rubin perceived the film as a modern interpretation of the Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State , the Tibetan Book of the Dead. [9] [10] Rubin said: "The inspiration in a sense is my entire spiritual upbringing. Once you have a meditative life you start to see that the world is really far different than what it appears to be. What appears to be finite is really couched in the infinite, and the infinite imbues everything in our lives." [11] Before writing his scripts for Jacob's Ladder and Ghost , which too was released in 1990, the Jewish-born Rubin spent two years in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Nepal; [2] [12] previously, he had also written afterlife-themed Brainstorm and Deadly Friend .

Rubin's work on Jacob's Ladder began in 1980, sparked by his nightmare in which he dreamt about being trapped in a New York City Subway station. For several years, Rubin tried to sell the script, without success. He was immediately given offers from studios specializing in low-budget horror productions, but insisted on holding out in favor of better funded studios and directors. The script began attracting attention after getting listed as one of American Film magazine's top ten unproduced screenplays. [13] Thom Mount of Universal Pictures said he "loved it, but it was not for his studio". Directors Michael Apted, Sidney Lumet and Ridley Scott all expressed an interest in making the film, but still no major studio was ready to invest in Rubin's "too metaphysical" stories as "Hollywood does not make ghost movies". Eventually, after Deadly Friend was filmed by Wes Craven in 1986, Rubin's screenplays for both Jacob's Ladder and Ghost were picked by Paramount Pictures. [9] In 1988, [2] Adrian Lyne, who described Rubin's work as "certainly one of the best scripts I've ever read", decided then to direct it instead of an adaptation of The Bonfire of the Vanities as he had originally planned (incidentally, Tom Hanks, an actor originally considered by Lyne for the role of Jacob, ended up starring in Bonfire). The ownership and policy changes at Paramount resulted in the cancellation of the project; the executives had doubts about the film's ending and the scenes taking place in Vietnam. The independent film studio Carolco Pictures decided to take over the production of Jacob's Ladder, giving Lyne a greater creative control [9] and a budget of $25 million. [2] Rubin became the film's co-producer, along with Mario Kassar, Alan Marshall and Andrew G. Vajna.

I can see why people didn't want to make it for so long. It reads like a novel, and it's very intimidating because it's written so descriptively. Bruce had these very literal images of heaven and hell that I didn't know how to bring off. How do you introduce a character with horns?

–Adrian Lyne [9]

Lyne, who downplayed Rubin's "intimidating" Old Testament themes, [14] said that he prepared for making the film by watching "endless" documentary films about the war in Vietnam and reading "countless" chronicles of near-death experiences. [2] The film's plot device of a long period of subjective time passing in an instant has been explored by several authors. A particularly strong inspiration for both Rubin and Lyne was Robert Enrico's 1962 short film An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge , [15] one of Lyne's favorite films, [9] which was in turn based on Ambrose Bierce's 1890 short story of the same title. Cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball based the film's dream sequences on the art of Francis Bacon. [13]

Tim Robbins and Elizabeth Peña were among the first actors to audition for the roles of Jacob and Jezzie, but Carolco Pictures initially demanded more established stars in the role. Dustin Hoffman, Richard Gere and Al Pacino were considered for the role of Jacob, while Andie MacDowell, Julia Roberts, Demi Moore and Madonna were considered for the role of Jezzie. Lyne ultimately decided to cast Robbins and Peña anyway. [13] Cast in the role of Jacob, Tim Robbins said the film presented for him "a great opportunity to go in a different direction. I love doing comedy, but I know I can do other things as well." [2]

Filming began in New York City on September 11, 1989, and took place on location in Staten Island, Queens, and Brooklyn. Jacob and Jezzie's apartment was filmed on a soundstage in West 23rd Street, while the subway dream sequences were shot on an abandoned level of Bergen Street station. The Seaview Hospital of Staten Island; the Essex County Veterans Courthouse of Newark, New Jersey; and Madison Square Garden were also featured as locations in the film. The film's military advisor was Vietnam veteran Captain Dale Dye, [16] who provided a five-day boot camp military training for the actors playing soldiers in the Vietnam storyline (including Robbins, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Eriq La Salle and Ving Rhames). The war scenes were filmed in the jungles near Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, featuring the UH-1 helicopters provided by the Puerto Rico National Guard. Filming concluded at Tortuguero Lagoon in January 1990 with a $40 million budget. [13]

All of the film's special effect sequences were filmed in camera, with no use of post-production effects. In several scenes of Jacob's Ladder, Lyne used a body horror technique in which an actor is recorded shaking his head around at a low frame rate, resulting in horrifically fast motion when played back. In the Special Edition's commentary track, Lyne said he was inspired by the art of the painter Francis Bacon when developing the effect. [17] In his screenplay, Rubin used traditional imagery of demons and hell. However, Lyne decided to use images similar to thalidomide deformities to achieve a greater shock effect. [15] After many heated arguments, [2] Lyne managed to convert Rubin to his vision. Lyne and Rubin used the works of the artist H. R. Giger and the photographers Diane Arbus and Joel-Peter Witkin for inspiration; another influence came from the Brothers Quay's 1986 stop motion short film Street of Crocodiles .

Vietnam was really a means to an end. It was a plot device rather than something we were trying to make a huge issue of.

–Alan Marshall [2]

In the film, Jacob is told by Michael that the horrific events he experienced on his final day in Vietnam were the product of an experimental drug called "the Ladder", which was used on troops without their knowledge. At the end of the film, a message is displayed saying that reports of testing of BZ, NATO code for a deliriant and hallucinogen known as 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, on U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War were denied by the Pentagon. Lyne said a part of the inspiration for this motif was Martin A. Lee's book Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD and Sixties Rebellion , but noted that "nothing in the book suggests that the drug BZ—a super-hallucinogen that has a tendency to elicit maniac behavior—was used on U.S. troops." [9]

According to Lyne's audio commentary, test screenings indicated that the initial version of the film was overwhelming for the audience. In response, about 20 minutes of disturbing scenes, mostly from the last third of the film, were removed from the final cut.

Release

Theatrical release

Jacob's Ladder opened on November 2, 1990, distributed by TriStar Pictures. Jacob's Ladder: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack with the music by Maurice Jarre was released by Varèse Sarabande in 1993 and then by Waxwork Records in March 2020 on a single LP. [18] [19] Rubin's companion book, released by Applause Theater Book Publishers on the same day as the film, [9] features a final draft of the screenplay, including the deleted scenes, and his essay on making of the screenplay and the film. [15]

Home media

The Special Edition DVD was released by Artisan Entertainment on July 14, 1998, containing three deleted scenes ("Jezzie's Transformation", "The Antidote" and "The Train Station") along with several other special features, such as audio commentary by Adrian Lyne and a 26-minute making-of documentary "Building Jacob's Ladder". [20] On September 14, 2010, the film was released on Blu-ray Disc by Lions Gate Entertainment and retains all of the special features of the DVD version, along with two promotional trailers, omitting only a TV spot that came with the DVD. [21] [22]

Reception

Box office

The film took the number one spot at the weekend box office in North America, garnering ticket sales of $7.5 million from 1,052 screens. [23] However, the attendance dropped fast and its overall domestic box office result was only $26,118,851. [3]

Critical reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of 68 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's consensus reads: "Even with its disorienting leaps of logic and structure, Jacob's Ladder is an engrossing, nerve-shattering experience". [24] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 62 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale. [26]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that watching it left him "reeling with turmoil and confusion, with feelings of sadness and despair," and called it a "thoroughly painful and depressing experience — but, it must be said, one that has been powerfully written, directed and acted." He awarded the film three and a half out of a possible four stars. [27] Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that this "slick, riveting, viscerally scary film about what in other hands would be a decidedly unsalable subject, namely death," is "both quaint and devastating." [28]

Desson Thomson of The Washington Post felt disappointed with the film that is "ultimately flat on its surrealistic face, the victim of too many fake-art sequences." [29] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Jacob's Ladder is so 'dark' it sucks Robbins right down with it. By the time Jacob is being strapped to a bed and wheeled down a hospital corridor strewn with bloody limbs, it's hard to care whether the Orwellian image is a hallucination or not. You just want out." [30] Kim Newman called the film "effectively the blunt remake" of Carnival of Souls . [14]

According to IGN's review of the DVD release in 2004, "After movies like Se7en , it may not pack the same subtle horror for today's audiences it did when it was first released, but it's still a great film." [20] IGN's review of Jacob's Ladder's 2010 Blu-ray release called it "an emotionally poignant, creepy horror masterpiece." [21] According to Slant Magazine , Jacob's Ladder is "a bizarrely cohesive hybrid of war movie, character study, art film, and horror flick" and "the very act of watching the film is so emotionally draining that the viewer leaves the film feeling worked-in; the thought of repeat viewings is daunting yet insatiable." [22] John Kenneth Muir called the film's nightmarish hospital scene "one of the most terrifying moments in all of 1990s horror cinema." Muir further wrote: "In its musings about death, about the end we all fear, Jacob's Ladder proves a deeply affecting and meaningful motion picture. After a screening, you'll immediately want to hug the people you love and then go outside and breathe the fresh air, or otherwise affirm your very existence." [31]

Rubin's script was included on the list of "Hollywood's ten best unproduced screenplays" by American Film magazine in 1983. [2] In 1991, Jacob's Ladder was nominated at Horror Hall of Fame II for best horror film of the year, losing to The Silence of the Lambs . The film was also featured in Bravo's 2004 documentary miniseries The 100 Scariest Movie Moments [32] and in the 2009 book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die . In 2013, the Jacob Burns Film Center projectionist Andrew Robinson chose it as his favorite scary movie. [33] LA Weekly and Letterboxd list this movie as belonging to the vetsploitation subgenre. [34] [35]

Legacy

Jacob's Ladder greatly inspired the Silent Hill horror franchise, [36] including the video games Silent Hill (1999), [37] Silent Hill 2 (2001), [38] Silent Hill 3 (2003), [39] Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004), [40] and Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008), [41] as well as the series' 2006 film adaptation by Christophe Gans. [42] The film's influence on their works was also recognized by Ryan Murphy, writer of the 2011 TV series American Horror Story: Asylum , [43] and by Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil series and director of the 2014 video game The Evil Within . [44] Kim Manners prepared for directing The X-Files episode "Grotesque" by listening to the music from Jacob's Ladder. [45] The music video for the 2010 song "Nightmare" by Avenged Sevenfold is a homage to the famous hospital scene from the film, chosen by the director Wayne Isham, because the band's deceased drummer The Rev was a fan of the film. [46] Director Christopher Nolan has said that Jacob's Ladder, specifically its use of abstract imagery, was an influence on his 2023 film Oppenheimer . [47]

Several direct references to Jacob's Ladder exist within the Silent Hill games, particularly Silent Hill 2, whose plot is largely inspired by the film; the head-twitching effect seen in the film recurs throughout the game series, and in Silent Hill 2, the protagonist, James Sunderland, wears an M-1965 field jacket nearly identical to the one Jacob wears in the film. [48] Other references to the film itself include the mentions in the 2002 The Twilight Zone episode "Night Route" (dialog [49] ) and the 2010 The Simpsons episode "The Squirt and the Whale" (visual). Rick and Morty references the film in the 2020 episode "Never Ricking Morty" with a flashback when Morty stabs Rick with a bayonet, reminiscent of what happens to the main protagonist at the beginning of the film. [50]

In music, Claytown Troupe used a sample of Michael's quote 'It's a fast trip ... ' at the beginning of the track "Rainbow's Edge" from their 1991 album Out There. UNKLE sampled dialogue from the film in their 1998 "Rabbit in Your Headlights" and again in 2003 in "Inside". VNV Nation's track "Forsaken" from the 1998 album Praise the Fallen ends with the quotation from Eckhart. "Devils" from IVardensphere's 2011 album APOK begins with the same quotation. A sample of Jacob's cry 'Stop it, you're killing me!' is used in "Next in Line" from Nevermore's 1996 album The Politics of Ecstasy . Biosphere's track "City Wakes Up" from album Man with a Movie Camera features a sample of departing train sounds from the subway scene.

The film's possible influence can be arguably seen in many other works ranging from M. Night Shyamalan's 1999 hit psychological horror film The Sixth Sense [51] to Peter Arnett's controversial 1998 CNN report "Valley of Death" about the 1970 Operation Tailwind. [52] Jeff Millar of Houston Chronicle wrote that Giuseppe Tornatore's 1994 psychological thriller A Pure Formality uses the plot device of Jacob's Ladder mixed with several other sources. [53] According to Premiere , Massy Tadjedin's 2005 psychological thriller The Jacket "is a film for those who don't remember Jacob's Ladder, perhaps for someone like Jacob himself," as it "resembles Jacob's Ladder too much for its own good." [54]

Jacob's Ladder is a longtime running gag on the podcast How Did This Get Made? , in which a group of comedians examines various bad movies. At some point in every episode, either co-host Jason Mantzoukas or an audience member will posit that week's film might be "a Jacob's Ladder situation." [55]

Remake

A remake directed by David M. Rosenthal and written by Jeff Buhler, Sarah Thorp and Jake Wade Wall was released in 2019, to negative reception. The film stars Michael Ealy, Jesse Williams, Nicole Beharie, Karla Souza, and Guy Burnet. [56]

See also

Related Research Articles

Silent Hill is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four mainline video games in the series—Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room—were developed by an internal group called Team Silent, a development staff within the former Konami subsidiary, Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo from 1999 to 2004.

<i>Scary Movie 2</i> 2001 film by Keenen Ivory Wayans

Scary Movie 2 is a 2001 American supernatural parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. It is the sequel to Scary Movie and the second film in the Scary Movie film series. The film stars Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans, as well as Tim Curry, Tori Spelling, Chris Elliott, Chris Masterson, Kathleen Robertson, David Cross and James Woods. The film was the last in the series to feature the involvement of stars Marlon and Shawn Wayans, and director Keenan until the upcoming sixth installment. Marlon would eventually go on to produce a similar horror-themed parody, A Haunted House, and its sequel, both starring himself. In the latter film, Wayans pokes fun at the Scary Movie series' decline in quality after his family's departure.

Adrian Lyne is an English film director. Lyne is known for sexually charged narratives, conflicting passions, the power of seduction, moral ambiguity, betrayal, and the indelibility of infidelity.

<i>Silent Hill 2</i> 2001 video game

Silent Hill 2 is a 2001 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The game was released from September to November, originally for the PlayStation 2. The second installment in the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 2 centers on James Sunderland, a widower who journeys to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his dead wife. An extended version containing a bonus scenario, Born from a Wish, and other additions was published for Xbox in December of the same year. In 2002, it was ported to Windows and re-released for the PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits version, which includes all bonus content from the Xbox port. A remastered high-definition version was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012 as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection. A remake developed by Bloober Team was released on October 8, 2024.

<i>The Black Cat</i> (1934 film) 1934 American film

The Black Cat is a 1934 American pre-Code horror film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi. It was Universal Pictures' biggest box office hit of the year, and was the first of eight films to feature both Karloff and Lugosi. In 1941, Lugosi appeared in a comedy horror mystery film with the same title, which was also named after and ostensibly "suggested by" Edgar Allan Poe's short story.

<i>Deadly Friend</i> 1986 film by Wes Craven

Deadly Friend is a 1986 American science fiction horror film directed by Wes Craven, and starring Matthew Laborteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett, Anne Twomey, Richard Marcus, and Anne Ramsey. Its plot follows a teenage computer prodigy who implants a robot's processor into the brain of his teenage neighbor after she is pronounced brain dead; the experiment proves successful, but she swiftly begins a killing spree in their neighborhood. It is based on the 1985 novel Friend by Diana Henstell, which was adapted for the screen by Bruce Joel Rubin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge</span> 1890 short story by Ambrose Bierce

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1890) is a short story by American writer and Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce, described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature". It was originally published by The San Francisco Examiner on July 13, 1890, and was first collected in Bierce's book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891). The story is set during the American Civil War and is known for its irregular time sequence and twist ending. Bierce's abandonment of strict linear narration in favor of the internal mind of the protagonist is an early example of the stream of consciousness narrative mode.

<i>Silent Hill</i> (film) 2006 film by Christophe Gans

Silent Hill is a 2006 supernatural horror film directed by Christophe Gans and written by Roger Avary, based on the video game series of the same name published by Konami. The first installment in the Silent Hill film series, it stars Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, Alice Krige and Jodelle Ferland. The plot follows Rose da Silva, who takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill, for which Sharon cries while sleepwalking. Rose is involved in a car accident near the town and awakens to find Sharon missing. While searching for her daughter, she fights a local cult and begins to uncover Sharon's connection to the town's dark past.

Pruitt Taylor Vince is an American character actor. He had roles in the films Mississippi Burning (1988), Jacob's Ladder (1990), JFK (1991), Identity (2003), and Constantine (2005). He played J.J. Laroche in The Mentalist (2008–2015).

Bruce Joel Rubin is an American screenwriter, meditation teacher, and photographer. His films often explore themes of life and death with metaphysical and science fiction elements. Prominent among them are Jacob's Ladder, My Life and Ghost, for which he received the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Ghost was also nominated for Best Picture, and was the highest-grossing film of 1990. He is sometimes credited as "Derek Saunders" or simply "Bruce Rubin".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyramid Head</span> Fictional video game character

Pyramid Head, also known as "Red Pyramid Thing", "Red Triangle Head" or "Triangle Head", is a character from the Silent Hill series, a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Konami.

<i>Silent Hill</i> (video game) 1999 video game

Silent Hill is a 1999 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. As the first installment in the Silent Hill video game series, the game was released exclusively for the PlayStation. Silent Hill uses a third-person view with real-time rendering of 3D environments. To mitigate the limitations of the console hardware, developers used fog and darkness to obscure the graphics and hide pop-ins, which, in turn, helped establish the game's atmosphere and mystery. Unlike earlier survival horror games that focused on protagonists with combat training, the player character of Silent Hill is an "everyman".

<i>Silent Hill 3</i> 2003 video game

Silent Hill 3 is a 2003 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The game was released from May to August, originally for the PlayStation 2. The third installment in the Silent Hill series and a direct sequel to the first Silent Hill game, it follows Heather, a teenager who becomes entangled in the machinations of the town's cult, which seeks to revive a malevolent deity. A port for Windows was released later in November, and a remastered high-definition version was released as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012.

<i>Silent Hill 4: The Room</i> 2004 video game

Silent Hill 4: The Room is a 2004 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The fourth installment in the Silent Hill series, the game was released in Japan in June and in North America and Europe in September. Silent Hill 4 was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows. Its soundtrack was released at the same time. In 2012, it was released on the Japanese PlayStation Network. On October 2, 2020, it was re-released on GOG.com with patches to make it playable on Windows 10.

<i>Silent Hill: Shattered Memories</i> 2009 video game

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a 2009 survival horror game developed by Climax Studios and published by Konami Digital Entertainment. It was released in December for the Wii and ported to the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable platforms in January 2010. In April 2014, it appeared on the PlayStation Network in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thriller film</span> Film genre evoking excitement and suspense

Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. Tension is created by delaying what the audience sees as inevitable, and is built through situations that are menacing or where escape seems impossible.

<i>Silent Hill: Revelation</i> 2012 film by M. J. Bassett

Silent Hill: Revelation is a 2012 supernatural horror film written and directed by M. J. Bassett and based on the video game series Silent Hill published by Konami. It is the second installment in the Silent Hill film series. The film, produced as a sequel to Silent Hill (2006), stars Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Martin Donovan, Malcolm McDowell, and Carrie-Anne Moss, with Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Bean, and Radha Mitchell returning from the previous film. The plot follows Heather Mason (Clemens), who, discovering on the eve of her eighteenth birthday that her presumed identity is false, is drawn to the town of Silent Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaeden Martell</span> American actor (born 2003)

Jaeden Martell is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, with roles in the comedy drama St. Vincent (2014) and science fiction film Midnight Special (2016). His performance in St. Vincent earned him a nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. After playing the title character in the drama The Book of Henry (2017), Martell's breakthrough came with his portrayal of Bill Denbrough in the supernatural horror films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019). This led to further leading roles in horror films, such as The Lodge (2019) and Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022).

<i>Deep Water</i> (2022 film) 2022 film by Adrian Lyne

Deep Water is a 2022 erotic psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne, from a screenplay by Zach Helm and Sam Levinson, based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. The film stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, with Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery, Dash Mihok, Finn Wittrock, Kristen Connolly, and Jacob Elordi appearing in supporting roles. It marks Lyne's return to filmmaking after a 20-year absence since his last film, Unfaithful (2002).

"Solaricks" is the premiere episode of the sixth season of the Adult Swim animated television series Rick and Morty. It is the 52nd episode of the series overall. Written by Albro Lundy and directed by Jacob Hair, the episode was broadcast on September 4, 2022. The episode directly follows the events of the previous season finale, "Rickmurai Jack".

References

  1. ↑ "Jacob's Ladder (18)". British Board of Film Classification . November 6, 1990. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Time Golden, Up 'Jacob's Ladder' And Into the Hell Of a Veteran's Psyche Archived September 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine , The New York Times, October 28, 1990.
  3. 1 2 Jacob's Ladder at Box Office Mojo.
  4. ↑ "Top 10 Psychological Horror Movies - Alternative Reel". Alternative Reel. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  5. ↑ Paul Meehan, Horror Noir: Where Cinema's Dark Sisters Meet, McFarland, 2011 (p.259).
  6. ↑ John Flowers, Paul Frizler, Psychotherapists on Film, 1899-1999: A Worldwide Guide to Over 5000 Films, Volume 1, McFarland, 2004 (p.309).
  7. ↑ Pamela Jaye Smith, Inner Drives, Michael Wiese Productions, 2005 (p.217).
  8. ↑ Eric G. Wilson, Secret Cinema: Gnostic Vision in Film, Bloomsbury, 2006 (p.123).
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hartl, John (November 1, 1990). "Adrian Lyne Met A Metaphysical Challenge". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  10. ↑ Golden, Tim (October 28, 1990). "FILM; Up 'Jacob's Ladder' And Into the Hell Of a Veteran's Psyche". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  11. ↑ Tricycle: The Buddhist Review - Volume 1, Buddhist Ray, 1991 (p.77).
  12. ↑ Carrol Lee Fry, Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca, and Spiritualism in Film, Associated University Presse, 2008 (p.77).
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Jacob's Ladder". AFI Catalog. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Tom Ruffles, Ghost Images: Cinema of the Afterlife, McFarland, 2004 (p.192).
  15. 1 2 3 Bruce Joel Rubin, Jacob's Ladder, Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 1990.
  16. ↑ Almar Haflidason, Dale Dye: Part 2 - Stop Whining at Me! Archived October 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine , BBC, October 2003.
  17. ↑ "Jacob's Ladder". Widerscreenings.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  18. ↑ Squires, John (March 5, 2020). "Waxwork Records Releasing the Complete Score to the Original 'Jacob's Ladder' on Vinyl". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  19. ↑ Maurice Jarre (1990). "Jacob's Ladder: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Music". Amazon. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  20. 1 2 Mike Drucker, Jacob's Ladder: The living nightmare of a movie has a pretty decent DVD. Archived March 15, 2021, at the Wayback Machine , IGN, November 8, 2004.
  21. 1 2 R.L. Shaffer, Jacob's Ladder Blu-ray Review Archived March 15, 2021, at the Wayback Machine , IGN, September 14, 2010,
  22. 1 2 "Jacob's Ladder | DVD Review". Slant Magazine. September 14, 2010. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  23. ↑ Broeske, Pat H. (August 17, 2000). "'Jacob's Ladder' Climbs to Top of Ticket Sales. - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Jacob's Ladder (1990)". Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Jacob's Ladder (1990) Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  26. ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  27. ↑ Ebert, Roger (November 2, 1990). "Jacob's Ladder". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  28. ↑ Janet Maslin (November 2, 1990). "Movie Review - Jacob s Ladder - Review/Film; It's Scary, Yes, and Death Has a Role". The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 15, 2021.
  29. ↑ Desson Howe, 'Jacob's Ladder' (R) Archived October 17, 2017, at the Wayback Machine , Washington Post, November 2, 1990.
  30. ↑ Owen Gleiberman, Jacob's Ladder (1990) Archived August 8, 2024, at the Wayback Machine , EW.com, November 2, 1990.
  31. ↑ John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1990s, McFarland, 2011 (p.105).
  32. ↑ "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments: 100 Scariest Moments in Movie History - Official Bravo TV Site". Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  33. ↑ "Halloween Countdown – Day 8: Jacob's Ladder » Jacob Burns Film Center Blog". Blog.burnsfilmcenter.org. October 26, 2013. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  34. ↑ Sweeney, Sean (May 25, 2018). "10 VETSPLOITATION MOVIES TO WATCH OVER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND". LA Weekly . Semanal Media LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  35. ↑ "Vetsploitation. List by Jarrett". Letterboxd . 2018. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  36. ↑ John Gaudiosi, Resident Evil And Silent Hill Producer Samuel Hadida Talks Wolfenstein And Onimusha Movies Archived November 4, 2018, at the Wayback Machine , Forbes, February 11, 2012.
  37. ↑ Bernard Perron, Silent Hill: The Terror Engine, University of Michigan Press, 2012 (p. 55-56).
  38. ↑ Interview with Silent Hill 2&#039,s Artist Takayoshi Sato Archived March 15, 2021, at the Wayback Machine , IGN, August 17, 2001.
  39. ↑ Silent Hill 3 Interview Archived March 15, 2021, at the Wayback Machine , IGN, June 12, 2002
  40. ↑ Daniel Etherington (October 1, 2004). "Silent Hill 4: The Room". bbc.co.uk . Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  41. ↑ Grayson, Vincent (May 20, 2008). "Silent Hill 5 Interview: Jason's Philosophy, Jacob's Ladder, and Pyramid Head". Shacknews.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  42. ↑ "Interview Silent Hill: Director Christophe Gans". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  43. ↑ Jessica Lange Sings 'The Name Game': 'American Horror Story: Asylum' Goes Musical Archived January 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine , HUFFPOST TV, March 1, 2013
  44. ↑ Lucy O'Brien, "Am I dying, Louie?" Archived November 7, 2019, at the Wayback Machine , IGN, May 16, 2013.
  45. ↑ Brian Lowry, The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files, Harper Prism, 1995 (p.158).
  46. ↑ Archive-Kyle-Anderson. "Avenged Sevenfold's Johnny Christ Talks Rev Tributes In 'Nightmare' Video". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  47. ↑ "奧本海默 Oppenheimer Q&A with 克里斯多福·諾蘭 Christopher Nolan moderated by Daniels on 12/5/2023". YouTube . December 24, 2023. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  48. ↑ "Behind the Many Mysteries of Silent Hill from". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  49. ↑ "Remember Tim Robbins in Jacob's Ladder? He dies in the beginning and spends the rest of the movie trying to accept his death."
  50. ↑ "Rick & Morty: The Obscure Horror Movie Referenced In "Never Ricking Morty"". ScreenRant. February 14, 2021. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  51. ↑ Charles Derry, Dark Dreams 2.0: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film from the 1950s to the 21st Century, McFarland, 2009 (p.223).
  52. ↑ Jerry Lembcke, CNN's Tailwind Tale: Inside Vietnam's Last Great Myth, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003 (p.77).
  53. ↑ Jeff Millar, 'Pure Formality' so pretentious is hurts, Houston Chronicle, June 10, 1995.
  54. ↑ Brian W. Fairbanks, I Saw That Movie, Too: Selected Film Reviews, 2005 (p.201).
  55. ↑ White, Brett (November 1, 2017). "Hey 'How Did This Get Made?' Fans: 'Jacob's Ladder' Is Now On Hulu". Decider. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  56. ↑ "Jacob's Ladder (2019) Details and Credits", Metacritic, archived from the original on June 3, 2023, retrieved September 3, 2023

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.