Jacob's Ladder
Film poster
Directed byDavid M. Rosenthal
Screenplay by
  • Jeff Buhler
  • Sarah Thorp
Story by
  • Jake Wade Wall
  • Jeff Buhler
Based onJacob's Ladder
by Bruce Joel Rubin
Produced by
  • Will Packer
  • Mickey Liddell
  • Michael J. Gaeta
  • Alison R. Rosenzweig
  • Pete Shilaimon
  • Jennifer Monroe
Starring
CinematographyPedro Luque
Edited byRichard Mettler
Music byAtli Örvarsson
Production
companies
Distributed byVertical Entertainment[1]
Release dates
  • July 25, 2019 (2019-07-25) (DISH Network)
  • August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) (United States)
Running time
89 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Jacob's Ladder is a 2019 American psychological horror film directed by David M. Rosenthal and written by Jeff Buhler and Sarah Thorp. A remake of the 1990 film of the same name, it stars Michael Ealy, Jesse Williams, Nicole Beharie, Karla Souza, and Guy Burnet. It was broadcast on DISH Network on July 25, 2019, before the theatrical release on August 23, 2019, by Vertical Entertainment, to mostly negative reviews.

Plot

"After losing his brother in combat, Jacob Singer returns home from Afghanistan — only to be pulled into a mind-twisting state of paranoia. Singer soon realizes that his sibling is alive but life is not what it seems. With his life now altered, he must figure out what is real and what is not."[3]

Cast

Production

Development

In 2013, The Midnight Meat Train screenwriter Jeff Buhler was reported to be writing a script for LD Entertainment's new version of Jacob's Ladder. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "the producers are looking to make something more akin to an homage and not mimic the original. The plan is to contemporize the story with new situations and characters but still maintain a story that examines issues and poses existential questions".[8]

James Foley was attached as director in November 2013.[9] By March 2016, Foley was no longer attached to the project and was replaced by David M. Rosenthal.[10][11] Rewrites were provided by Sarah Thorp when Buhler was unavailable to return.[12]

Buhler said that since, due to two recent wars, the American "cultural understanding of the experience of warfare and what it does to people mentally" has become "a completely different place than it was" in 1990, he decided to not be "necessarily going to the same conclusion, and finding a new way to give the audience an experience that is similar in terms of impact and feeling, but that doesn't play the same tune. It was a very tricky situation in the sense that we were trying to recreate something, but honor the spirit and concept (of the original), while telling a different story".[13] Buhler promised a different twist ending than in the original 1990 film.[14]

Casting and filming

In March 2016, it was announced The Perfect Guy star Michael Ealy had signed on to star in and executive-produce the film.[4][15] In April 2016, Jesse Williams and Nicole Beharie joined the cast of the film,[5] followed by Guy Burnet and Karla Souza in June.[7][6] Williams described the film as "a total re-imagining of the cult classic".[16]

Principal photography began on May 2, 2016.[17] By June, filming took place at the Avondale station in Decatur, Georgia and Peachtree Center in Atlanta.[18] Production had concluded by August of that year.[19] The first official trailer for the film was released on July 1, 2019.[20][21]

Release

Jacob's Ladder premiered on the DISH Network on July 25, 2019 before being released theatrically on August 23, 2019 by Vertical Entertainment.[22][23][24][25] Previously, the film was set to be released by LD Entertainment on February 1, 2019.[26]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 4% based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The site's consensus reads, "A needless remake that quickly loses sight of the themes that elevated the original, this is a Jacob's Ladder that leads straight to nowhere."[3] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100 based on reviews from eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[27]

John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "As jumbled as all this is, the film never achieves the kind of sweaty intensity of the original."[28] Owen Gleiberman of Variety said the film "plays like a half-hearted sketch of the movie it could have been."[29] RogerEbert.com's Brian Tallerico gave it 1/4 stars, saying it "has some scary faces and a tacked-on commentary about PTSD and government intervention that feels cheap and unearned. Only the commitment from the always-solid Michael Ealy saves it from being one of the worst movies of the year, although just barely."[30] Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film was "less strange and scary, and more mindlessly action-packed. It doesn't feel like a dream. It's more like hearing a stranger describe a dream."[31]

References

  1. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 17, 2019). "'Jacob's Ladder' Remake Acquired By Vertical Entertainment; DISH Set For Exclusive Window This Summer – Cannes". Deadline. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Jacob's Ladder". AMC Theatres. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Jacob's Ladder (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. August 23, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Fleming, Mike (March 21, 2016). "Michael Ealy Will Star In 'Jacob's Ladder' Reboot". Deadline. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Busch, Anita (April 18, 2016). "Jesse Williams And Nicole Beharie Cast In 'Jacob's Ladder'". Deadline. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Hipes, Patrick (June 27, 2016). "Karla Souza Ascends 'Jacob's Ladder'; Jaime Ray Newman In 'Valley Of The Gods'". Deadline. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  7. 1 2 Evans, Greg (June 7, 2016). "Mackenzie Davis In 'Blade Runner' Pic; Guy Burnet To 'Jacob's Ladder'". Deadline. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  8. ↑ Boris Kit, 'Jacob's Ladder' Getting Remake Treatment (Exclusive), The Hollywood Reporter, 6/28/2013.
  9. ↑ "'House of Cards' Director James Foley Climbs Aboard 'Jacob's Ladder' Homage (Exclusive)". TheWrap. November 20, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  10. ↑ Williams, Owen (March 22, 2016). "Michael Ealy to Star in Jacob's Ladder Remake". Empire. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  11. ↑ McNary, Dave (March 21, 2016). "The Perfect Guy Star Michael Ealy Joins Jacob's Ladder Reboot". Variety. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  12. ↑ Gingold, Michael (February 7, 2019). "Exclusive Interview: Screenwriter Jeff Buhler Talks The Prodigy and the Jacob's Ladder Remake". Rue Morgue. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  13. ↑ Miller, Ryan (April 9, 2014). "Writer Jeff Buhler on the upcoming remakes of The Grudge and Jacob's Ladder". JoBlo.com. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Exclusive Interview: Screenwriter Jeff Buhler talks 'THE PRODIGY' and the 'JACOB'S LADDER' remake". Rue Morgue. February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  15. ↑ Lemieux, Jamilah (April 19, 2016). "[Exclusive] Jacob's Ladder Remake with Michael Ealy, Jesse Williams, Nicole Beharie". Ebony. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  16. ↑ Kennedy, Gerrick (April 19, 2016). "Michael Ealy, Jesse Williams and Nicole Beharie to Lead Jacob's Ladder Reboot". LA Times. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  17. ↑ "On the Set for 5/6/16: Taron Egerton Starts 'Kingsman' Sequel, Hugh Jackman Begins on 'Wolverine 3', Rooney Mara & Robert Redford Finish 'The Discovery'". SSN Insider. May 6, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  18. ↑ Walljasper, Matt (June 22, 2016). "What's Filming in Atlanta Now? Spider-Man: Homecoming, Fast 8, and Georgia's New Movie Milestone". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  19. ↑ McNary, Dave (August 18, 2016). "Bold Films, Robert Rodriguez Developing Horror Movie Blood (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  20. ↑ Jacob's Ladder - Official Trailer (HD) - Vertical Entertainment (video). Vertical Entertainment US. July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019 – via YouTube.
  21. ↑ Pulliam-Moore, Charles (July 1, 2019). "The First Trailer for David Rosenthal's Jacob's Ladder Remake Is Stunning". io9. Gizmodo. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  22. ↑ Miska, Brad (July 16, 2019). "Jacob's Ladder Poster Shows Michael Ealy's Fractured Psyche [Exclusive]". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  23. ↑ Olsen, Tambay (July 1, 2019). "'Jacob's Ladder' Trailer: Long-Delayed All-Black Remake Gets a Creepy New Look". IndieWire. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  24. ↑ Squires, John (May 17, 2019). "Vertical Entertainment Acquires 'Jacob's Ladder' Remake and Sets Summer Release Date". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  25. ↑ Miska, Brad (January 2, 2019). "'Jacob's Ladder' Remake Now Releasing Later in 2019". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  26. ↑ Miska, Brad (August 22, 2018). "No Hallucinations, the 'Jacob's Ladder' Remake is Coming in 2019". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  27. ↑ "Jacob's Ladder (2019) Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  28. ↑ "'Jacob's Ladder': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. August 20, 2019.
  29. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (August 23, 2019). "Film Review: 'Jacob's Ladder'". Variety.
  30. ↑ Tallerico, Brian (August 23, 2019). "Jacob's Ladder movie review & film summary (2019)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  31. ↑ Murray, Noel (August 22, 2019). "Review: 'Jacob's Ladder,' another remake nobody asked for, and more movies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
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