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Movies like Jacob's Ladder

Key Features:
Psychological horror, Vietnam War, Existential crisis, Hallucinations, Trauma, Paranoia, Loss of sanity, Nightmares, Mystery, Disturbing imagery, Mental breakdown, Conspiracy, Religious allegory, Unreliable narrator, Gothic horror, Violence-moderate, Cult classic
Tone:
serious, suspense-driven, gritty
Target Audience:
Horror fans, Psychological thriller enthusiasts, Fans of surreal cinema, Viewers interested in war trauma narratives
Emotional Arc:
Confusion → Dread → Despair

Jacob's Ladder

1990-11-02
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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.

Genres
Drama, Mystery, Horror
Cast
Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jason Alexander, Patricia Kalember, Eriq La Salle, Ving Rhames, Brian Tarantina
Crew
Adrian Lyne, Bruce Joel Rubin
Rating
7.4(1795 votes)
Jacob's LadderJacob's Ladder
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Jacob's Ladder
4.3

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Don't Answer the Phone!

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Cherry
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The Ninth Configuration

Army psychiatrist Colonel Kane is posted to a secluded gothic castle housing a military asylum. With a reserved calm, he indulges the inmates' delusions, allowing them free rein to express their fantasies.



The Veteran
5.797

Soldier Robert Miller returns home from Afghanistan unable to fit back into society. Living on a violent council estate and finding work in undercover surveillance, he becomes obsessed with taking down a group of local gangsters who are intrinsically tied to a suspected terrorist cell. Taking the situation into his own hands, Robert embarks on a brutal quest for justice, with devastating consequences.



Spiral
Spiral(2007)
6.1

A reclusive telemarketer has only one semblance of a friend: His telecommuter boss. But the telemarketer's social circle seems to improve greatly when a whimsical co-worker enters his life. Only, as he begins to sketch his new friend's portrait, disturbing "voices" from the phone man's past threaten to lead him into a network of destruction.



The Jacket
6.9

A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.



Smile
Smile(2022)
6.666

After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can't explain.



Platoon Leader
5.457

West Point graduate lieutenant Jeff Knight meets cynicism when taking command of sergeant Michael McNamara's tour veterans platoon in a Vietnamese trench camp. Unlike his predecessor, who hid till the end of his tour, Jeff takes charge, experiences the manual doesn't allow coping with all realities and gets wounded. He returns, now fully respect by men and superiors. Besides the Vietcong, the platoon wrestles with the inscrutable villagers, which the G.I.'s officially protect, but also fear as some collaborate with them, other covertly with the Cong, either way subject to bloody reprisals.



Dementia
Dementia(2015)
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Dead of Night
6.3

A young soldier who was thought to be killed in Vietnam returns home and exhibits disturbing behavior, much to the confusion of his family.



Rolling Thunder
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Wounds
Wounds(2019)
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Disturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans after he picks up a phone left behind at his bar.



Taxi Driver
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The Park Is Mine
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Danika
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Shadow
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Jimmy P.
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At the end of WWII, Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot who fought in France, suffers from unexplainable symptoms and is admitted to a military hospital. When doctors suspect schizophrenia, an eccentric psychoanalyst takes up the case and starts a conversation with the veteran.



The Domino Principle
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Jacknife
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A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.



Devil
Devil(2010)
6.1

A group of people are trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia, and one of them is the devil.



Casualties of War
7.2

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The Deer Hunter
8

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Hamburger Hill
6.5

The men of Bravo Company are facing a battle that's all uphill… up Hamburger Hill. Fourteen war-weary soldiers are battling for a mud-covered mound of earth so named because it chews up soldiers like chopped meat. They are fighting for their country, their fellow soldiers and their lives. War is hell, but this is worse. Hamburger Hill tells it the way it was, the way it really was. It's a raw, gritty and totally unrelenting dramatic depiction of one of the fiercest battles of America's bloodiest war. This happened. Hamburger Hill - war at its worst, men at their best.



My Dead Friend Zoe
6.037

Merit, a U.S. Army veteran suffering from PTSD, is repeatedly tortured by visions of her deceased friend and company buddy Zoe. After her Afghanistan service in 2016, she attends group therapy until Dale, her grandfather and former Lieutenant Colonel, is recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Merit steps up to his aide, and discovers more about herself and her family, while also gaining the courage to put her metaphorical demons to rest.



Videodrome
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As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.



The Machinist
7.5

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Birdy
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7.1

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Requiem
Requiem(2006)
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The Exorcism
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Incarnate
Incarnate(2016)
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Slaughterhouse-Five

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Horse Girl
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The Hurt Locker
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Special
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A lonely metermaid has a psychotic reaction to his medication and becomes convinced he's a superhero. A very select group of people in life are truly gifted. Special is a movie about everyone else.



The Poughkeepsie Tapes

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Mirrors
Mirrors(2008)
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An ex-cop and his family are the target of an evil force that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home.



Rosewood Lane
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Radio talk show therapist Sonny Blake moves back to her childhood home on seemingly idyllic Rosewood Lane after her alcoholic father dies. But upon arrival in the old neighborhood, Sonny discovers her neighbors are terrified of the local paperboy. She thinks this is ridiculous, until she encounters the boy himself. It turns out that he is a cunning and dangerous sociopath, one who may have gruesomely killed her father - and others.



American Pastoral
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Dr. Caligari
5.8

Mrs. Van Houten has shown signs of losing touch with reality, and her husband discusses possible treatment with Dr. Caligari, who says Mrs. Van Houten has a disease of the libido.



Keane
Keane(2004)
6

William Keane is barely able to cope. It has been six months since his six-year-old daughter was abducted from New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal while traveling with him. Repeatedly drawn to the site of the abduction, Keane wanders the bus station, compulsively replaying the events of that fateful day, as if hoping to change the outcome.



The Mangler
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A laundry-folding machine has been possessed by a demon, causing it to develop homicidal tendencies.



Regression
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Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner investigates the case of young Angela, who accuses her father, John Gray, of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.



The Mandela Effect
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A man becomes obsessed with facts and events that have been collectively misremembered by thousands of people. Believing the phenomena to be the symptom of something larger, his obsession eventually leads him to question reality itself.



VFW
VFW(2019)
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A typical night for veterans at a VFW turns into an all-out battle for survival when a desperate teen runs into the bar with a bag of stolen drugs. When a gang of violent punks come looking for her, the vets use every weapon at their disposal to protect the girl and themselves from an unrelenting attack.



Firebase
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Blackout
Blackout(2008)
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Three people from different walks of life find themselves trapped inside a stalled elevator. What at first seems like an inconvenience rapidly escalates into a nightmare.



Full Metal Jacket
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A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.



Twisted Nerve
6.763

Martin Durnley is a young man with an infantilizing mother, resentful stepfather and an institutionalized brother with Down's syndrome. To cope, he retreats into an alternate child personality he calls Georgie. After being caught during a theft attempt at a department store, he befriends a female customer who is sympathetic to him, but his friendship soon turns into obsession.



Resurrection
6

A woman's carefully constructed life is upended when an unwelcome shadow from her past returns, forcing her to confront the monster she's evaded for two decades.



Stigmata
Stigmata(1999)
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A young woman with no strong religious beliefs, Frankie Paige begins having strange and violent experiences, showing signs of the wounds that Jesus received when crucified. When the Vatican gets word of Frankie's situation, a high-ranking cardinal requests that the Rev. Andrew Kiernan investigate her case. Soon Kiernan realizes that very sinister forces are at work, and tries to rescue Frankie from the entity that is plaguing her.



The Last Man
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Tov Matheson is a war veteran with PTSD who perceives that the apocalypse is coming. After starting a relationship with a dubious Messiah, he leaves his normal life and begins the construction of a shelter underground, training himself, in an extreme way, at the cost of losing everything and making people believe he is insane. When he also believes it, something extraordinary happens.



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Spider(2002)
6.646

A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.



The Thin Red Line
7.4

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Silent Hill
6.604

Rose, a desperate mother takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears and Rose begins a desperate search to get her back. She descends into the center of the twisted reality of a town's terrible secret. Pursued by grotesquely deformed creatures and townspeople stuck in permanent purgatory, Rose begins to uncover the truth behind the apocalyptic disaster that burned the town 30 years earlier.



Boogeyman
Boogeyman(2005)
5

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Fear and Desire
5.4

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Enemy
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A mild-mannered college professor discovers a look-alike actor and delves into the other man's private affairs.



Possession
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Nightmare Cinema
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A series of down-on-their-luck individuals enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings.



End of the Line
5.8

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In the Mouth of Madness

An insurance investigator visits a small town while looking into the strange disappearance of a popular horror novelist. He soon finds that the impact of the author’s books is far more than inspirational.



Boogeyman 2
5.5

A young woman attempts to cure her phobia of the boogeyman by checking herself into a mental health facility, only to realize too late that she is now helplessly trapped with her own greatest fear.



Nightingale
6

A dangerously unstable man addresses the unseen followers of his video log about his obsession with an old army buddy.



Apocalypse Now
8.271

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Triage
Triage(2009)
6

The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.



The Amusement Park
6.1

An elderly gentleman goes for what he assumes will be an ordinary day at the amusement park, only to find himself in the midst of a hellish nightmare.



Torment
Torment(1994)
6.8

Forced to work extremely hard to keep things afloat, Paul begins hearing voices in his head questioning his past choices. Convinced that his wife has been unfaithful, he begins to see every male guest as a potential threat. What follows is Paul's downward spiral into the madness of deranged jealousy where he finally discovers that hell is not a state of mind – hell is himself.



Johnny Got His Gun
7.498

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.



Aftermath
Aftermath(2024)
6.281

A returning war veteran, stricken with PTSD, gets trapped with his teenage sister on Boston's Tobin Memorial Bridge when a heavily armed group of ex-military revolutionaries take everyone hostage.



Intruders
Intruders(2011)
5.5

Though no one can see him, Hollow Face lurks in the corners, desperately desiring love but only knowing how to spread fear and hate. He creeps into the life of John Farrow after Farrow’s beloved 13-year-old daughter Mia is assaulted in their home. The line between the real and the imaginary blurs as fissures start to open within the family unit. It seems that no security measure can keep Hollow Face out.



Dead Presidents
6.653

On the streets they call cash dead presidents. And that's just what a Vietnam veteran is after when he returns home from the war only to find himself drawn into a life of crime. With the aid of his fellow vets he plans the ultimate heist -- a daring robbery of an armored car filled with unmarked U.S. currency!



Insidious
Insidious(2011)
6.9

A family discovers that dark spirits have invaded their home after their son inexplicably falls into an endless sleep. When they reach out to a professional for help, they learn things are a lot more personal than they thought.



Scream at the Devil
5.178

A beautiful, schizophrenic, woman is pushed over the edge by her husbands illicit affairs. When her hallucinations become reality, the Devil comes to take his due. Is Miriam insane or has the Devil come to collect on her promise?



The Devil's Tomb
4.7

Captain Mack leads an elite military unit on a search for a missing scientist, and comes face-to-face with an an ancient evil lying beneath the Middle Eastern desert. Evil that is not of this world. Evil that should never be unearthed.



The Evil Within
5.7

The sadistic tale of a lonely, mentally handicapped boy who befriends his reflection in an antique mirror. This demonic creature orders him to go on a murderous rampage to kill the people he loves most.



Oculus
Oculus(2014)
6.5

A woman tries to exonerate her brother's murder conviction by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.



Tales That Witness Madness

Dr. Tremayne is an enigmatic psychiatrist running an asylum that houses four very special cases. Visited by his colleague Nicholas, Tremayne explains his amazing and controversial theories as to why each of the four patients went mad.



The Unsaid
6.623

A doctor dealing with the aftermath of his son's death tries to help a troubled young man.



Stop-Loss
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6.137

A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.



Saw
Saw(2004)
7.4

Two men wake up to find themselves shackled in a grimy, abandoned bathroom. As they struggle to comprehend their predicament, they discover a disturbing tape left behind by the sadistic mastermind known as Jigsaw. With a chilling voice and cryptic instructions, Jigsaw informs them that they must partake in a gruesome game in order to secure their freedom.



Uncommon Valor
6.245

A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.



Ladder 49
Ladder 49(2004)
6.5

Under the watchful eye of his mentor, Captain Mike Kennedy, probationary firefighter Jack Morrison matures into a seasoned veteran at a Baltimore fire station. However, Jack has reached a crossroads as the sacrifices he's made have put him in harm's way innumerable times and significantly impacted his relationship with his wife and kids.



House
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6.2

Roger Cobb, a divorced horror novelist coming to terms with the disappearance of his young son, inherits an old mansion home to malevolent supernatural residents.



Street Trash
6.1

A group of hobos begin melting into multicolored piles of goo after drinking sixty-year-old liquor. At the same time, the psychotic Vietnam War vet who rules the hobo camp snaps and begins killing at random. Two brothers set out to stop the liquor and the killer.



Peacock
Peacock(2010)
6.128

A minor train accident in rural Nebraska gradually unveils a mystery involving the town's reclusive bank clerk.



Woodshock
Woodshock(2017)
4.42

Theresa, a haunted young woman spiraling in the wake of profound loss, is torn between her fractured emotional state and the reality-altering effects of a potent cannabinoid drug.



Conspiracy
5.406

A Gulf War veteran with PTSD heads to a small town to find his friend. When he arrives his friend and his family have vanished and the townsfolk afraid to answer questions about their disappearance. He soon discovers that the town is owned and controlled by one man, and he doesn't like people asking questions.



Passengers
6.1

After a plane crash, a young therapist, Claire, is assigned by her mentor to counsel the flight's five survivors. When they share their recollections of the incident -- which some say include an explosion that the airline claims never happened -- Claire is intrigued by Eric, the most secretive of the passengers.



Drag Me to Hell
6.5

After denying a woman the extension she needs to keep her home, loan officer Christine Brown sees her once-promising life take a startling turn for the worse. Christine is convinced she's been cursed by a Gypsy, but her boyfriend is skeptical. Her only hope seems to lie in a psychic who claims he can help her lift the curse and keep her soul from being dragged straight to hell.

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