Released 28 years ago, Adrian Lyne’s Jacob’s Ladder explored the effects of PTSD through a genre lens, giving audiences a genuinely harrowing experience as we watched the life of a post-war (and post-Howard the Duck) Tim Robbins’ unravel before his eyes after returning from Vietnam. Its depiction of paranoia and terrifying hallucinatory imagery made for an unrelentingly bleak 113 minutes, and might go some ways to explain the film’s largely unsung nature. Naturally, we at STARBURST think it’s a masterpiece! And whether we need this remake or not, at the very least news on it gives us the opportunity to sing the original’s praises and urge any who hasn’t yet seen it to seek it.

The new version will be helmed by David M. Rosenthal, director of the Netflix Original How It Ends, from a screenplay by Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train), and newcomer Sarah Thorpe. Cast-wise, we have Michael Early (Almost Human), Karla Souza (How to Get Away with Murder), Nicola Beharie (Sleepy Hollow), and Guy Burnet (Hollyoakes). We know what you’re thinking, but let’s remember that Tim Robbins was hardly a household name yet, and Macaulay Culkin (playing his dead son – told you it was cheery!) had yet to be left Home Alone. Courtesy of Bloody Disgusting, we now have a release date, and can expect to see this drop as early as February 2019.

Original Synopsis:

After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) 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 (Elizabeth Peña), and ex-wife, Sarah (Patricia Kalember), try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer’s chiropractor friend, Louis (Danny Aiello), fails to reach him as he descends into madness.

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