The A to Z Challenge. Letter J.

This was a hard one but, after days of search over the net, I prevailed. My selections for the day:

Movie.

Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Directed by Adrian Lyne.

Plot: New York postal worker Jacob Singer is trying to keep his frayed life from unraveling. His days are increasingly being invaded by flashbacks to his first marriage, his now-dead son, and his tour of duty in Vietnam. Athough his new wife tries to help Jacob keep his grip on sanity, the line between reality and delusion is steadily growing more and more uncertain.

Review: A surreal psychological thriller masterfully done. With this movie nothing is what it seems and reality is but a term. We follow a traumatized Vietnam war veteran who is finding out that his post-war life isn't what he expected it to be and things get truly weird and scary when horned creatures in the subway attack him and his dead son stops by to say hello. This film will freak you out and leave you wandering what the heck just happened. Not to be missed.

Once more the embedded code is not working but for those interested in watching the trailer, click here.

Book.


The Journals of Eleanor Druse. My Investigation of the Kingdom Hospital Incident by Eleanor Druse.
Published by Hyperion in 2004.


Blurb: The newly built Kingdom Hospital in Lewiston, Maine, is one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the country. Unfortunately, it was erected on the site of a terrible tragedy -- a textile mill fire that killed dozens of workers, mostly children. And it appears that beneath the sheen of the new construction and scientific innovations of The Kingdom, an indecipherable and primal evil lurks -- and the soul of a trapped and helpless child cries out for solace.

Review: I, like many, watched engrossed the Kingdom Hospital miniseries and though I loved it, I felt kind of cheated by the many questions left unanswered. I know the series was based on Lars Von Trier's "The Kingdom" (a Danish miniseries) and if you know anything about Von Trier you know he is anything but a conventional storyteller. So, an adaptation from another show... we have seen this before and we know the original is probably better, but where does the book feature, you ask? Well, Richard Dooling was the man responsible of the adaptation along with Mr. King. He also wrote this book as Eleanor Druse, one of the patients of the haunted hospital. Asking what was first, the book or the miniseries is like going through the chicken/egg thing. Not wise. But for those, like me, who enjoyed the series and can't get enough of it, this will be a nice little extra. You're welcome friends.