Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins), the hero in Adrian Lyne’s Jacob’s Ladder (1990), lives a waking nightmare. He is a mailman and Vietnam vet haunted by dreams of his war experience and the death of his son. He starts witnessing weird events that leave him wondering if he’s asleep or not. Riding the subway home from work one night, he finds himself trapped in a subway station with no exits. The next day, a car drives by with a demon in the backseat. Most famously, Singer’s girlfriend, Jezebel (Elizabeth Pena) dumps him into a bathtub full of ice because he has a hellish fever. The special effects are grotesque 18 years later. Jacob’s Ladder’s spinning head monster has been copied by many movies.
In Gore Verbinski’s The Ring (2003), solving the mystery unearths an infinite chain of death. Journalist Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) investigates a cursed videotape which mysteriously killed a relative. She views the tape and becomes haunted by a ghostly little girl who calmly informs her through a phone call that she’ll die in seven days. Rachel must figure out what the girl wants, otherwise she’ll perish with her face looking like a rotting fish. Editing makes the truly disturbing images effective as well as a score by Hans Zimmer that’s as pleasing as fingernails on chalkboard. The Ring’s mind-trip occurs when Rachel notices a fly in the video breaking free from the TV screen. This is the best of the Japanese horror remakes.
Some of you reading this probably feel uncomfortable being afraid of a force that you can’t see. We’re all afraid of the dark. Some of us are afraid of a killer waiting to jump out at us. Others are afraid of the darkness and what “else” may be out there to drag us into the gloom. In the words of the creepy merchant in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, “What’s your pleasure, sir?”
Article comments
1 - Hannah
wow, i love paranormal movies. they're my favorite! I love the feeling of being scared from a girl being posessed and shit haha. It takes a lot to scare me.