IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Schocktober 2022 # 12
Watched on Blu-Ray
From a commercial point of view, the career of British director Adrian Lyne must undoubtedly be described as successful, but in terms of quality and content it remains more than contentious. Box office hits like "Flashdance", "9 ½ Weeks", "Fatal Attraction" or "Indecent Proposal" not only propagated a terribly one-dimensional role relationship throughout, they also often proved to be hollow bodies polished to a high gloss without substance from a purely cinematic point of view. A pleasant exception in every respect is "Jacob's Ladder", in which Lyne (a one-time slip) shows himself from a completely different side and even had a lasting influence on pop culture. The "Silent Hill" games, among others, are said to have drawn inspiration from the bizarre, fever-dream-like hell ride of Vietnam veteran Jacob (Tim Robbins).
The very real nightmare of Vietnam seems to be behind him, but the aftermath is turning the Big Apple into a much larger, surreal front yard to madness. More and more, Jacob's reins slip; soon he can barely separate what is delusion or reality. As if in a twisting labyrinth, he gets lost deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole, confronted with his fears and very personal demons, personified in abstract horrors. Deformed, animalistic and diabolical. Vietnam as a never processed horror in the neck and brain lobe seems to rob him of his mind. Or did something happen there that has even more profound consequences than a "simple" trauma? Has he even become the test object of a sick military experiment? Can he still trust his senses, his memories and his mind, or is he long lost in a world from which there is no escape?
"Jacob's Ladder" reminds at times strongly of psychologically ambiguous as well as bizarre body horror à la David Cronenberg or abysmal nightmare fantasies of a David Lynch, but without reaching their highest class overall. This is mainly due to two characteristics: First, Adrian Lyne is and remains not a great director. He does his job solidly and understands the aesthetic presentation, but he does not have a real feeling for the subject matter. On the other hand, the film is nowhere near as surprising as it would like to be, at least in one essential aspect. However, this is not even fatal, because the path is the real goal of an undeniably insanely fascinating film, which despite a certain predictability is clever enough not to have to answer everything quite clearly. Leaving enough room for interpretation and discussion that even after multiple viewings, it still admits and purposefully invites various detailed questions.
In its surreal appearance there are philosophical questions about life and death, even influenced by biblical motifs, as well as a lot of subversive political thriller, paranoid search for identity, committed anti-war cinema and terrifying horror film, which clearly quotes several classics of each of these genres and thus almost becomes a classic itself. Mario Kassar & Andrew G. Vajna produced the often under-appreciated masterpiece "Angel Heart" a few years earlier, and it feels like these two films are very close in many ways, especially the oppressive, unpleasant atmosphere. It can't hold a candle to the latter's brilliance and generally lacks a little finesse to take its place at the top, but it's enough for a more than crystal-clear recommendation with only hair-splitting criticisms.