Jacob's Ladder. Mention the name of this seriously creepy, mind-bending motion picture to anyone who's seen it and chances are you'll be met with an expression similar to the one stuck on Tim Robbins' war veteran protagonist's face for the entire length of the movie. Sitting through Jacob's Ladder is a serious ordeal in itself, after all - its complex, bewildering storyline concerning a Vietnam veteran (named Jacob, yes), combined with some truly horrifying scenes and images, ensures that much. Directed by Adrian Lynne (famous for Fatal Attraction), this is the sort of movie you wind up watching at 2:00am on a Thursday night for some reason, only to find that you're unable to sleep once it's all over with. Jacob's Ladder is all flashbacks and hallucinations, which means that it's by no means an easy watch; in fact, it's a throughly depressing puzzle of a movie that offers little in the way of comfort. There's one particular scene that looks like it might have inspired the aesthetics for the Silence Hill games. If you've played Silent Hill, that thought should terrify you.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
