‘This Too Shall Pass’ Is Unlike Most Teen Comedies

“This Too Shall Pass” is a name better suited for a snooty drama than a throwback teen comedy.

It’s your first clue that writer/director Rob Grant has made something different than a “Porky’s”-style affair.

The ’80s teen comedy is remarkably restrained, focusing on a young Mormon’s quest to delay another summer under his father’s thumb. It’s agreeable and sweet, filled with the kind of angst sure to make audiences wince.

Those adolescent memories never fade, but Grant and co. recall them with heart and humor. Adjust your expectations, and “This Too Shall Pass” becomes one of the year’s most pleasant surprises.

Young, conflicted Simon (Maxwell Jenkins) lives under the strict rules of his Mormon family in their Syracuse, N.Y. home. He’s a good kid who just pines to be bad, if only for a spell.

So he impulsively follows a pretty girl to Ottawa where she’ll be spending the summer.

Simon brings his loyal troupe of friends for a trip that starts off on the wrong foot and only gets worse.

• Barfights
• Scary motels
• Rejection on steroids
• Misunderstandings
• Robberies

You name it, and it goes south for the lads … until they meet some Canadian girls curious about their southern neighbors.

It’s all captured from the back seat of a cop car. A bloodied Simon narrates the story with a dash of fourth wall demolition.

A tip of the cap to Ferris Bueller? You bet.

“This Too Shall Pass” makes frequent references to ’80s comedies, a running gag that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Nor does the film go overboard with Reagan-era kitsch, although we get some groovy, decade-appropriate needle drops.

Screened “This Too Shall Pass” tonight.
The story of a 1980s Mormon teenaged boy who resists his lifestyle & strikes out one night with his friends. 80s music, John Hughes references – wow.
As my kid said: “Jeez Dad, whoever gave you this had clairvoyance.”
Watch for my review. pic.twitter.com/VB1aI6HEjM

— ‘CAPTAIN’ J. KIRK (@capjkkirk) October 18, 2025

One big possible error? The film is set in the late 1980s, but 1989’s “Say Anything” plays a prominent role in the plot. We’ll assume the story’s precise time period is post April 14, 1989 – that film’s theatrical release date.

Jenkins plays Simon with his beating heart on his sleeve. He’s aching to be like every other kid, but each time he tries he feels like a duckling taking its first, tentative steps. The actor’s emotionally naked turn is balanced by his on-screen chums.

That includes Tim (Ben Cockell), who sports Robert Smith’s eye mascara and a dour disposition. James (Jaylin Webb) is the group’s happy-go-lucky type, and his black skin allows the screenplay to touch on race without overdoing it.

Grant’s screenplay flirts with the social issues many ’80s era films ducked, but it does so in a way that doesn’t kills the story’s sweet momentum. No lectures? Phew.

Even better is a possible love connection between Simon and a streetwise Misty (Katie Douglas, “Clown in a Cornfield”).

Grant’s story seems predictable on the surface, but every time we get comfortable, the narrative hits a speed bump. It’s enough to keep audiences on their toes and remind us that teen sex comedies can take any direction they please.

Some, like “This Too Shall Pass,” are all the better for those creative detours.

HiT or Miss: “This Too Shall Pass” isn’t your Daddy’s teen sex comedy. It’s a fresh take on a genre that needed a facelift.

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Last Days Movie Review

Director Justin Lin fled the “Fast & Furious” franchise in the nick fo time.

The blockbuster auteur never had to send Dom into space or deal with metrosexual villainy. Instead, he took a step back and found a story worth his while.

That’s the tragic life of John Allen Chau, a Christian missionary determined to spread the Bible to the furthest reaches of the globe.

Literally.

Lin’s version isn’t perfect. Some creative choices feel too pat for such a messy yarn. Still, this is the kind of complicated storytelling that treats its subject matter seriously. It’s infectious, raw and relatable.

Sky Yang stars as John, an idealistic Christian hungry for something … more. He’s curious about the life of a missionary, but he isn’t initially sure he’s the kind of person to live it. His family prods him to pursue medicine, but that path doesn’t feed his soul.

Sharing the word of Jesus Christ? That matters most of all.

So he begins traveling the world despite his father’s protests, meeting fascinating new friends in the process. He slowly realizes he must do something big, a profound gesture to embrace his faith and share it with others.

He’ll travel to the North Sentinel Island to bring the Bible to its isolated people. It’s dangerous and foolhardy, but nothing will stop him from trying.

That’s the main story, but Lin tells Chau’s saga from a fractured narrative. We’re told early on that Chau disappeared during his quest along with a storytelling feint to keep us off balance. 

We’re also introduced to a determined Indian police inspector (Radhika Apte) searching for Chau or, at the least, his remains.

That “B” story adds a detective element to the film and showcases the varied perspectives Lin pursues. Chau isn’t a saint. He was likely a fool, one who didn’t process the implications of his quest.

Some suggest films demand a “perspective,” a lens from which to view the material. That’s often important and/or helpful, but “Last Days” embraces an all-encompassing look at the young man’s life.

And, wouldn’t you know it, it’s likely the best path forward given the source material. We’ve already had a documentary closeup on the matter. 

This is deeply personal and, at times, profound.

“Last Days” is beautiful to behold, with sprawling vistas that capture the wonder of the lands Chau saw during his short life. Performances are strong across the board, but Yang’s Chau is a minor revelation.

Whatever flaws persist in the script are flattened by his quiet magnetism. It’s impossible not to see his bruised humanity, the hurts left by his imperfect parents and the immature hunger to make life worth living now, not later.

Some creative choices aren’t as successful as others, and the police investigation threatens to overwhelm the main story at times.

Those risks ultimately pay off. Chau’s life was anything but traditional, and Lin’s unorthodox take on it feels just about right.

HiT or Miss: “Last Days” is a fascinating look at a young man’s eventful life and tragic death.

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Few Movies Love Horror More than ‘Popcorn’

I once attended a retrospective screening of the original “Friday the 13th” where the audience was sprayed with “blood.”

The theater also arranged for a man in a hockey mask to stalk the aisles every 30 minutes. It was a midnight showing at the legendary Mayan Theater in Denver, and no one seemed to mind that they were being spritzed with water containing red food coloring.

Nor that “Jason” didn’t even appear in the movie we were watching. It was an awesome way to watch an awful movie.

The shenanigans by the managers of the Mayan clearly wanted to evoke the late, great William Castle, who used to jerry-rig selected movie theaters with gimmicks to lure audiences.

Castle famously made movies where the audience was encouraged to scream their heads off (“The Tingler”), dread bed sheets that stood in for ghosts (“13 Ghosts”) and sign pre-screening wavers in case of death during the movie (he did this a lot for many of his titles). The movies themselves were crude but made with affection and unintentionally hilarious C-rate drive-in thrillers.

I miss guys like Castle, though there are still filmmakers who exude that kind of showmanship (John Waters and Lloyd Kaufman are prime examples).

“Popcorn,” a 1991 horror film with an adoring cult following, knows all too well how cool this kind of gonzo night at the movies is. It shares an affection for Castle’s films and is strikingly similar to Joe Dante’s 1993 masterpiece, “Matinee” (that is, if “Matinee” weren’t a coming-of-age high school comedy but a shot-in-Jamaica teen slasher film).

Nineties Scream Queen and genre veteran Jill Schoelen stars as Maggie, a college film student who is plagued by bizarre nightmares. Her film club stages an elaborate fundraiser: they renovate a movie theater, dress it up with jerry-rigged props and interactive gags and oversee (in costume and in character) a B-movie triple feature.

The three movies (fictional works we’re offered glimpses of, titled “Mosquito!,” “Attack of the Amazing Electrified Man” and “The Stench”) play on a night when the monster from Maggie’s dreams appears to be making a reappearance in the theater.

While this is stronger as an ode to ’50s horror than a consistent slasher/whodunit, the villain has a cool mask and a Gaston Leroux-like pathos. Genre pro Dee Wallace Stone, Tony Roberts and especially Ray Walston are very good in small roles, but the movie belongs to the plucky Schoelen and a memorable character turn by Tom Villard.

The film had a rocky beginning: Weeks into the filming of “Popcorn,” Alan Ormsby was replaced as director by “Porky’s” actor Mark Herrier, who does well to inject style when necessary and keeps the pace moving.

Schoelen was a replacement for Amy O’Neill (best known as the eldest daughter in “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”) and extensive reshoots took place. Evidence of a troubled production are in the wobbly tone, which is cheerful and jokey one minute, cold and sadistic the next.

A scene involving Stone, a supernatural marquee and a monster loose in a darkened movie theater, is stylish but nonsensical.

Popcorn (1991) pic.twitter.com/8LaWJuX6bm

— Jeanne Loves Horror (@1carolinagirl) May 22, 2023

There’s also the question of how much money the film club was allotted for the central event. Overseeing the triple feature, utilizing large-scale physical effects and extensively dressing up a movie theater appears to be more expensive than any imaginable college funds could allow. Yet, “Popcorn” appears as concerned with logic as “Mosquito!,” which is somehow fitting.

How’s this for showmanship? We get three B-movies within this B-movie. It manages to always be entertaining and exude a warmth for old-time movie magic, even when it gets dark and violent. The genuinely freaky experimental films we witness and the initial unveiling of the villain (both are by far the scariest things in “Popcorn”) are old-school thrills.

This is a junk food gourmet, not a feast of cinema history, but it can be fun to see cheesy late 20th century film tropes gel with effective recreations of ’50s monster movies, ’60s art cinema, ’70s and ’80s horror tropes and the much older, classic works. This odd synergy of cinema history resonates in a crass but clever line early on, when a film student compares Bergman to “Police Academy 5.”

Like the post-modernist horror films that emerged later in the decade, the characters of “Popcorn” seem vaguely aware that they’re in a horror film. Maggie scoffs at her boyfriend’s sexual advances early on, declaring, “This is the age of safe sex.”

She and the movie follow suit. There is no sex or nudity in “Popcorn.”

Schoelen revealed in a recent Fangoria interview that Bob Clark ghost-produced the film. Clark is the Canadian wunderkind who directed the crucial 1972 “Black Christmas,” the classic “A Christmas Story” (1983) and the surprise smash “Porky’s” (1981).

Clark’s influence seems to be present, as moments suggest a gentler fusion of his teen sex comedy and highly influential horror movie. Alas, there is not a trace of Ralphie or his Red Rider BB Gun.

“Popcorn” is certainly corny, but it’s always fun and reminds genre fans how much fun movies like this (or “Mosquito!”) are, especially if you see them in a movie theater.

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‘In the Mouth of Madness’ Is John Carpenter’s ‘Misery’

John Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness” (1995) was immediately dismissed in theaters, as its brief theatrical run was met with empty theaters and bad reviews.

Naturally, a new perspective was in order, as horror fans who eventually saw it weren’t just delighted by Carpenter’s especially playful, funny and jolting commentary on fandom and pop literary figures.  They recognized it as a career high point for “The Master of Terror.”

Sam Neill stars as a professional skeptic who investigates author Sutter Cane’s sudden disappearance, which is noted to coincide with the author’s new book hitting the shelves. Cane’s publisher (played with charm and a wink by Charlton Heston) reveals that Cane’s vanishing isn’t a stunt, while the author’s publicist (Julie Carmen, star of “Fright Night Part II”) reminds everyone that Cane is the real deal, as he “outsells Stephen King.”

The opening credits are of a printing press, piecing together paperbacks of Cane’s latest, while theme music that very badly wants to be Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blasts over the soundtrack.

Carpenter’s film explores the way the Horror genre, either in print or on film, affects its audience. Call it “John Carpenter’s New Nightmare.” Like Wes Craven’s brilliant satire/fright fest from the year before, this offers a satirical, self-reflective commentary on horror artists and their work.

Just as crucial is how effective this is as a jolt inducer, as “In the Mouth of Madness” is one of Carpenter’s most frightening films, containing some of the scariest imagery of his career.

“In the Mouth of Madness” has a knowing take on fandom, acknowledging the point that affection can cross the line into obsession.

RELATED: WHY JOHN CARPENTER’s ‘THE FOG’ DESERVES YOUR RESPECT

Movie buffs can be an intense crowd, particularly when they’re camping out in line for tickets, waiting hours (or days) to get into the theater and grab the best seat in the house. There is no getting in the way of a fan who is living for the next installment of a series or artist they can’t get enough of.

It’s no different in the literary world.

Proof of this came to me years ago, when I once attended a Harry Potter book release event at a Barnes & Noble store. It was midnight, but there were children everywhere, many in costume, all waiting in a long line, tickets in hand to exchange for the latest, hefty volume of J.K. Rowling storytelling.

An image I’ve never forgotten was a little girl, dressed like Hermione, who was the first in line, bought a copy of the book and pressed it lovingly against her chest, sort of hugging it. She then walked across the room, sat down in an unattended aisle and furiously began reading.

It was quite the spectacle, seeing dozens of kids, obsessed with the unveiling of a new book and unable to keep themselves from reading the moment they had a copy in their hands.

Being a lifelong King reader and present at a few bookstore releases of his work, I’ve been a part of that kind of fandom, too. I can’t say I ever literally embraced a brand-new copy of “It” but when the desire to read a new book is like the burning need to scratch a fuzzy itch on your back, bookworms can become ravenous.

Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness” takes this even further, as fans of Sutter Cane become Darwinian monsters after reading his latest novel.

In the Mouth of Madness (1994) dir. John Carpenter pic.twitter.com/hCafKyODjO

— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) March 23, 2022

Only Carpenter would select such a colorful, seemingly mismatched but cleverly assembled ensemble, which includes John Glover, David Warner, Jurgen Prochnow (as Cane) and, again, Heston! Frances Bay is especially unsettling as the seemingly innocent Mrs. Pickman, Prochnow (with a mop of hair) makes Cane genuinely spooky and in the lead, Neill conveys the fear of a cynic who becomes a believer.

The screenplay by Michael De Luca (who, at one point, became the head of New Line Cinema, the company that distributed this film) is witty and fiendishly imaginative. Cane appears to be an unholy combo of Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft and Clive Barker and, among the many titles in his catalog, a few that stand out are “The Basement’ and “The Feeding.”

While Cane’s origins are never fully revealed, a sci-fi explanation is teased.

DeLuca’s screenplay has a wicked sense of humor (note Neill’s intro line: “Sorry about the balls! It was a lucky shot, that’s all!”), but not every audacious touch works. On occasion, Carpenter’s low-budget background hurts him: gun fire squibs are cheaply replaced by flashes of light, and some of the monsters are barely visible.

The last scene is a clever but failed attempt to break the fourth wall. It might have been kind of fun in movie theaters, but the closing scene is the lone moment where De Luca and Carpenter think big but can’t quite reach as high as their aim.

Some of the visuals reminded me of “The Thing” (1982) and the comparison is favorable. There are also thematic ties to Carpenter’s later “The Ward” (2010), which also questions the point of view of the protagonist’s sanity.

This is one of several Carpenter films depicting horror in small, very American town – Carpenter’s own 1995 remake of “Village of the Damned,” likewise, explored this and arrived a few months later; like “In the Mouth of Madness,” Carpenter’s “Village of the Damned” also failed initially to connect with audiences and critics.

Carpenter has stated “In the Mouth of Madness” is the third in his “Apocalypse Trilogy,” coming after “The Thing” (1982) and “Prince of Darkness” (1987). There’s no missing the connective threads, as well as noting that Neill, in his second Carpenter film after the overlooked “Memoirs of an Invisible Man” (1992) appears to be having a grand ol’ time.

The film cheekily comments on the publishing mania that still exists between the publishing house and the readers. Everything from the early editions of “The Hunger Games,” “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Twilight” and anything from Rowling, and the way their distributors turn their works into bestseller frenzy events, applies to the notion that Cane is enabled by his handlers as well as his readers.

The best, most disturbing scenes of “In the Mouth of Madness” play on a demented loop, repeating a cycle of events until the fear is maximized. Neill’s initial reading of Cane’s novel, a night drive to Cane’s fabled Hobb’s End and the failed escape attempt that winds up in the same spot, are among Carpenter’s most brilliant set pieces.

While the creator of “Halloween” (1978) has made better movies, this is his scariest.

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How ‘Truth & Treason’ Differs from Most Nazi Dramas

We’re still learning about the heroes who stood tall against the Nazi regime.

The latest yarn ripped from the history books is “Truth & Treason,” an impeccably produced tale steeped in faith. Google the real story, and the ending won’t come as a shock. It’s still an enthralling tale filled with the kind of nuance missing in some Nazi-era stories.

Young Helmuth Hübener (Ewan Horrocks) is the prototypical “good German” during World War II. He’s young and talented, and he’s eager to use his intellect to help the Third Reich. He loves his homeland, after all, and local news reports cover up the truth about, well, everything.

That changes when a Jewish friend disappears under mysterious circumstances. Helmuth also finds a radio that allows him to hear forbidden broadcasts from outside the Nazi bubble. He quickly learns the true nature of the war and yearns to fight back.

He starts mass-producing leaflets that share the truth about the Nazi regime, spreading them across his neighborhood with the help of two dear friends. His persuasive writing makes the leaflets all the more effective, drawing the ire of local officials.

No one knows about his campaign, not even his parents. Can he stay under the Nazi’s radar long enough to make a difference?

“Truth & Treason” embraces its hero’s faith and how it intersects with his dangerous mission. What Christian could sit by and watch his country crumble under Hitler’s boot? The film is never preachy, but it directly connects our hero’s faith with his actions.

That nimble touch often eludes filmmakers. Not here.

Director/co-writer Matt Whitaker establishes Helmuth’s friend circle with care, capturing moments that make the characters more than historical stand-ins. Horrocks brings a youthful enthusiasm to the part, and when his character strikes up a romance with a co-worker, it’s heartbreaking.

We know this relationship is doomed, but Whitaker lets it play out for our consideration. This is just part of what the lad gives up by refusing to stay silent.

It’s equally hard to watch Helmuth’s father decry his son’s quest for the truth.

This isn’t a thriller by any definition, but a few scenes crackle as Nazi soldiers chase Helmuth down after handing out his latest leaflet.

One voice against the silence of fear. Helmuth Hübener risks everything to speak the truth.
Watch Ewan Horrocks as Helmuth Hübener in Truth & Treason in theaters October 17 pic.twitter.com/PN3WiLvM6b

— Angel (@AngelStudiosInc) October 5, 2025

It’s easy to demonize German officials for their complicity in the Nazi nightmares, but “Truth & Treason” gives grace to the film’s ostensible villain. Rupert Evans plays Erwin Mussener, the Nazi officer tasked with squeezing young Helmuth hard enough to give up his co-conspirators.

Erwin’s family gets a brief, and harrowing back story that fleshes out his character. And when things look grim for Helmuth, Erwin’s reactions prove achingly human. Evans plays those contradictions perfectly.

That element, along with our hero’s assured faith, makes “Truth & Treason” one of the best WWII films in some time.

HiT or Miss: “Truth & Treason” delivers powerful lessons on faith, resilience and heroism in the darkest hours.

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‘Tremors’ – The Perfect Comedy-Horror Hybrid

The key to why Ron Underwood’s “Tremors” (1990) works so well is that it never forgets it’s a comedy.

Yes, there are giant, worm-like creatures in the ground that pull you under and lots of scary moments, but this sci-fi/horror comedy-contemporary western hybrid never loses its sense of humor and forgets what it is.

Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon star as Earl and Valentine, two good ol’ boy repairmen who live out in an isolated desert town. Earl and Valentine are a real piece of work: these guys literally sleep in their pick-up truck, eat “bacon and beans” for breakfast, always wear jeans and flannel shirts and are, in the nicest sense, a couple of knuckleheads.

They’re known for being a rascally but dependable team for the town of Perfection which, if I counted right, has about a dozen people living there. The townfolk are warm, surprisingly diverse and share a family dynamic. The setting and look evoke a Western feel that is just right.

When Perfection’s citizens are randomly appearing to be sucked underground, Earl and Valentine are the first to discover in full what they’re up against: hungry, fast and vicious creatures that someone helpfully names “Graboids.”

In the same way “An American Werewolf in London” (1981), “Ghostbusters” (1984), “Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil” (2010) and “The Cabin in the Woods” (2011) are all comedies but have the bite of a scare fest, “Tremors” is that rare, enjoyable two-headed beast that also has it both ways.

The monster movie that breaks new ground.

On this day in 1990: TREMORS, starring Kevin Bacon, was released. pic.twitter.com/DP6K4r7CBB

— FANGORIA (@FANGORIA) January 19, 2025

I’ve never met anyone who saw “Tremors” and didn’t love it, which is why the film’s brief run in the theaters has always puzzled me. I saw it on opening week (on my birthday, no less) and remember the packed theater at the Wharf Cinema Center going nuts over it.

The screams and laughter were loud and in equal measure from start to finish, but “Tremors” wasn’t a success for its studio until it gradually became a cult favorite.

Part of the film’s undeniable charm comes from its cast. It’s harder than it looks to play “dumb,” especially when the actors in question are Ward and Bacon, two of the most interesting, hardest-working actors of their generation (it’s especially amazing to note that, after this, Ward played Henry Miller in “Henry & June” the same year).

They both fully invest in the endearing nitwits they play, creating a comic duo that is so rich, it could have sustained another movie.

The great Victor Wong and future “Jurassic Park” star Ariana Richards are also in the supporting cast, but the real surprise is seeing Michael Gross (fresh off playing the father on “Family Ties”) and Reba McIntire(!) portray gun-toting survivalists.

Their big scene, in which the sound of gunfire trailing off, then returning, has some of the biggest sustained laughs in the movie.

Yet, even when “Tremors” threatens to become utterly goofy and more of a spoof than a horror movie, it tightens the suspense and keeps us on edge.

The premise could have been a disaster in the wrong hands, but director Ron Underwood (whose follow-up was the 1991 blockbuster comedy “City Slickers”) gets the story right and creatively stages the attack scenes.
The ground-level POV camera work is an obvious ode to Sam Raimi’s most famous shots from “The Evil Dead” (1983). Though Underwood is working with a budget barely more substantial than what Raimi had on his early films.

The key is to makes audiences squirm and tuck their legs over their knees and off the ground, in fear that something will pull them down. “Tremors” still has that quality, in which wide open spaces in an isolated mountain town feel like a threat, not a place of solitude.

The forgotten “Blood Beach” (1981) tried an early version of this concept and failed to get it right (it also lacks entertainment value and any reason to exist). “Tremors” gets the B-movie thrills it’s going after and, unlike a lot of horror movies, it’s intentionally hilarious and gets better every time you see it.

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Jacob’s Ladder Remains a Can’t Miss Horror Classic

Adrien Lyne’s “Jacob’s Ladder” (1990) will be too much for most audiences, even the most hardened horror movie watchers.

From the opening scene, Lyne is warning us – don’t get too comfortable, as this is just the beginning.

We meet Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) as a soldier in Vietnam. He’s having a lighthearted moment with members of his platoon before enemy gunfire breaks out. The story then jumps ahead years later, with Jacob now living in New York, working as a postman and sharing an apartment with his beautiful girlfriend, Jezzie (Elizabeth Peña).

Jacob seems haunted but comfortable with his new life, until the day he is locked in a subway tunnel and begins to have visions of demons in the midst of the city.

Only Jacob’s chiropractor (Danny Aiello) offers him any verbal comfort. The more Jacob seeks to grasp his state of mind, the more his visions flare up. Is it a conspiracy or is Jacob truly seeing angels and demons in New York City?

Bruce Joel Rubin’s screenplay for “Jacob’s Ladder” was famous for being one of the most beloved but unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. Big-name directors and actors were lured to the project, then abandoned it, believing what Rubin created was brilliant but would never translate to the big screen.

Rubin’s story, of a man haunted by daily glimpses of demons and monsters in his everyday life, offered a straight-faced, no-nonsense exploration of matters both spiritual and secular. The story was bold, challenging and, on paper, easy to read as a tonally difficult project.

Enter Adrian Lyne, the director of slick, well-crafted films such as “Fatal Attraction” (1987), “Flashdance” (1983) and “9 1/2 Weeks” (1986), who believed (correctly) that, in order for Rubin’s screenplay to work as a movie, the imagery of angels and demons in a modern setting needed to made interpretive, not literal.

By making Rubin’s Dante-esque notions of Hell and Earth and the struggle for salvation more grounded and less f/x-heavy, “Jacob’s Ladder” became accessible and relatable, though no less impactful.

The tortured journey of Singer is all the more harrowing because we genuinely like him. As played by a young, boyish Robbins, Singer is a sweet, long-suffering veteran who genuinely does not deserve the relentless onslaught of anguish and mental torture he faces.

“Jacob’s Ladder” was a turning point for Robbins, who was primarily known for comedies like “Bull Durham” (1988), “Erik the Viking” (1989) “Cadillac Man” (1990) and a well-known flop called “Howard the Duck” (1986). He brings neither movie star bravado nor a comic distance from the material.

In fact, Robbins is so utterly vulnerable, sweet and relatable as Jacob Singer, I can’t imagine the film working without him. He gives himself to every scene, committing to moments that would be challenging and painful for any actor.

The film’s other secret weapons are Robbins’ co-stars, Peña and Aiello. Pena, as Jacob’s girlfriend Jezebel, cannily portrays a dual nature to her mysterious character and is no less than sensational. The late Peña, who excelled in comedies and dramas, gave her best work here.

This may sound like faint praise, but I don’t mean it that way – Aiello is playing the most sympathetic, father-like chiropractor in cinema. His intimate therapy session scenes with Robbins are moving and a necessary break from the more grueling passages.

“Jacob’s Ladder” is full of great scenes throughout that are mini masterpieces, in both ambition and execution: a late-night walk through an empty subway station, the horrifying dance party transformation, the moment with the tell-tale penny shifting on the ground, the journey on the hospital gurney and Peña’s chilling close-up near the end, all fantastic.

Yet, the most extraordinary passage involves a bathtub and, what we hope, is the reveal of Jacob waking from a nightmare to be with the ones he loves. This portion, which features a pre-“Home Alone” Macaulay Culkin, is the emotional core of the movie, and it’s a real heartbreaker.

I missed seeing this in the theater when it was released during the fall of 1990. Decades later, I caught a revival screening of “Jacob’s Ladder” in Denver. It made me extremely grateful to have missed seeing it in a movie theater when I was 13 years old, as I wouldn’t have been prepared for it.

Few movies have scared me as much as this one, and the demands it makes on the audience (both the attention that must be paid and the scenes that are to be endured) will be too much for some. Yet, a film this terrific is easy to recommend, as it rewards our patience with a tale that, when all is revealed in the end, proves to be uncommonly compassionate.

“Jacob’s Ladder” can be brutal, but few films are this deeply committed to expressing the value of being present and grateful for life’s most irreplaceable moments. Horror films aren’t usually described as beautiful, but this one most certainly is.

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