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Eraserhead (1977)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
David Lynch (writer)
Release Date:
7 September 1979 (West Germany)
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Tagline:
In Heaven Everything Is Fine. more
Plot:
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
2 wins
&
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
(26 articles)
Danny Arroyo on new film Repo Chick and his passion for superheroes
(From The Geek Files. 23 November 2009, 12:47 PM, PST)
Directors of the Decade: David Lynch
(From FilmExperience. 29 October 2009, 11:50 AM, PDT)
(From The Geek Files. 23 November 2009, 12:47 PM, PST)
Directors of the Decade: David Lynch
(From FilmExperience. 29 October 2009, 11:50 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Cinematic genius, but definitely NOT a date movie.
more (434 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Jack Nance | ... | Henry Spencer (as John Nance) | |
| Charlotte Stewart | ... | Mary X | |
| Allen Joseph | ... | Mr. X | |
| Jeanne Bates | ... | Mrs. X | |
| Judith Roberts | ... | Beautiful Girl Across the Hall (as Judith Anna Roberts) | |
| Laurel Near | ... | Lady in the Radiator | |
| V. Phipps-Wilson | ... | Landlady (long version) | |
| Jack Fisk | ... | Man in the Planet | |
| Jean Lange | ... | Grandmother | |
| Thomas Coulson | ... | The Boy | |
| John Monez | ... | Bum | |
| Darwin Joston | ... | Paul | |
| T. Max Graham | ... | The Boss (as Neil Moran) | |
| Hal Landon Jr. | ... | Pencil Machine Operator | |
| Jennifer Chambers Lynch | ... | Little Girl (as Jennifer Lynch) |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
89 min | USA:108 min (approx.) (premiere version)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Certification:
Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) |
Iceland:16 |
Spain:13 |
Singapore:PG |
France:-16 |
Netherlands:16 |
Norway:15 |
Denmark:7 |
UK:15 (re-rating) (2008) |
Portugal:M/16 |
Chile:14 |
UK:18 (video rating: 1986) |
UK:X (original rating) |
Argentina:16 |
Australia:M |
Finland:K-14 |
Ireland:18 |
South Korea:15 |
Sweden:15 |
USA:Unrated |
West Germany:18 |
Canada:13+ (Québec)
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
David Lynch has referred to Eraserhead as his "most spiritual movie." On the 2000 DVD release, he says that no one has come close to the film's true meaning. Other than those vague statements, he has steadfastly refused to say a word more about the film in any kind of public forum, preferring that viewers make up their own minds about what it all means.
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Goofs:
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Continuity "errors" are in keeping with the movie's distorted, surreal atmosphere.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Livsfarlig film (1988)
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Soundtrack:
In Heaven
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FAQ
A NOTE ABOUT SPOILERSWho is the Man in the Planet?
What is David Lynch's interpretation of this film?
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I can think of very few films that have sound as their most commendable feature. The Exorcist is one, a film that, aside from infrequent strains of `Tubular Bells', adopts minimal incidental music. This is laudable in a horror genre where shocks are clearly signposted and predicted by overgenerous musical stings. The Exorcist may be flawed, but its avoidance of this field cliché is worthy of praise.
Eraserhead is the other film that excels in sound. A frankly disturbing concoction of industrial score and white noise with undercurrents of musical hall and sonorous church organ, it is almost an extra character in the film, and easily it's most prominent factor.
Yet Eraserhead is to be recommended for more than its incidentals. An impenetrable and gloomy work, what is it actually about? Who is the credited `man in the planet' who pulls levers that control giant spermatozoa? Many questions like this permeate a film which perhaps has to be seen several times to get over the initial shock of it's avant gardism. Lynch extracts the everyday and supplants it with the exceptionally bizarre. The experience of meeting a girlfriend's parents for the first time is never worse than here, where the parents in question gyrate spasmodically to the animated legs of a blood-spitting chicken. It's these scenes along with the deformed mutant baby that could lend the film the air of an abortion debate. Birth and repressed sexuality thrive throughout the film, from suckling puppies to the seductive appeal of the `beautiful girl across the hall' and a mother-in-law that gets too close for comfort. I guess the entire film could be a man's mental breakdown when faced with the premature responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood. Though to be honest I couldn't even begin to imagine what it's really all about.
Encroaching blackness fills every scene, where lights are intermittent at best, and at worse fail completely. Often sets particularly the bedroom when `Mary X' is feeding the child are like prison cells. Two of the most eerie segments involve a title-explaining dream (?) where Henry's (Nance's) head is carved into pencil rubbers and an unsettling musical number from the `lady in the radiator'. This is the same lady with two candyfloss-like lumps on her cheeks that alternates her stage appearances between stamping on giant sperm to singing with religious convictions.
Direction and cinematography are brilliant throughout, though the climax is the ultimate extension of a film that borders on darker, extremely unpleasant aspects of reality. I took a girl to see this film once, where the conclusion formed the final straw in what could be seen as a cycle of repellent imagery. I wonder why I never saw her again?