Jacob's Ladder (1990)

Jacob's Ladder parents guide

No surprises for an R: real scares and several jump scares.

Scare

Properly scary

Frightening, not just tense.

Jump scares

Several

More than a couple of sudden jolts.

Gore

Light gore

Some blood or injury, briefly.

Violence

Some violence

Some fighting or peril.

Sex and nudity

Moderate

Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.

Language

Moderate

Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Jacob's Ladder scary?

Yes, properly. Jacob's Ladder is the real thing without being an endurance test.

How gory is Jacob's Ladder?

Light gore and some violence.

What is Jacob's Ladder rated, and is it OK for kids?

Rated R, and it earns it: real scares, several jump scares, and moderate sex and nudity. Not one for kids.

What is Jacob's Ladder about?

After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.

Cast and crew

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Jacob's Ladder is on our Scary, not gory; Horror on Paramount+; Mystery on Paramount+; Horror on Kanopy; and Mystery on Kanopy lists.

More like this feeling

Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

• “a horror movie that's actually scary”
• “scary but not gory”
• “a thriller with a twist, no spoilers”

Lists with the same feel: Tearjerkers and Weird and surreal.