10 Conspiracy Theories That Inspired Horror Movies
9. Jacob's Ladder
In Jacob's Ladder, Tim Robbins plays the titular character; an army vet who is haunted by his traumatic past. At first, it seems like Jacob is suffering from PTSD, which is a common condition among veterans. But as time goes by, Jacob's paranoia worsens exponentially. As he begins to have visions of monsters and a secret military experiment, Jacob struggles to tell who or what is real.
Many viewers don't realise that the experiment Jacob sees during his hallucinations is based on a classified government program called MKUltra. Although most conspiracies are unproven or flat-out untrue, MKUltra was a genuine experiment conducted by the CIA.
From 1953-1973, the agency performed a series of immoral procedures on human test subjects against their will, hoping it would cause them to develop psychic powers. This program had the victims tortured, placed in solitary confinement, and injected with hallucinogenics.
When these tests were uncovered in the 1970s, all officials involved attempted to destroy evidence that MKUltra ever existed. Since documents about the incident were declassified in 2001 and 2008, many aspects of the gruelling experiment are on public record.