Eraserhead (1977)

Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

Director:

David Lynch

Writer:

David Lynch

Stars:

Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph

2 wins & 1 nomination.

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 Lynch	...	Little Girl

Storyline

A film that defies conventional logic and storytelling, fueled by its dark nightmarish atmosphere and compellingly disturbing visuals. Henry Spencer is a hapless factory worker on his vacation when he finds out he's the father of a hideously deformed baby. Now living with his unhappy, malcontent girlfriend, the child cries day and night, driving Henry and his girlfriend to near insanity.

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Plot Keywords:

surrealism | psychosis | nightmare | factory | experimental film | 

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Taglines:

Be warned. The nightmare has not gone away...

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 February 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gardenback

Filming Locations:

4th Street Bridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Film Institute (AFI), Libra Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (re-release) Mono (original release)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Lynch began his interest in Transcendental Meditation during the film's production, adopting a vegetarian diet and giving up smoking and alcohol consumption.

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Goofs

Henry takes off the wrong shoe/sock to dry off.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Beautiful Girl Across the Hall: Are you Henry?
Henry Spencer: Yes?
Beautiful Girl Across the Hall: A girl named "Mary" called on the payphone in the hallway about an hour ago. She said that she's at her parents and that you're invited to dinner.
Henry Spencer: Oh, yeah?
[after a long pause]
Henry Spencer: Well... thank you very much.
[Henry enters his apartment, while the girl slowly closes the door to hers]

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, just a long, tilted close-up of the face of Jack Nance.

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Alternate Versions

The original print of the film ran 20m longer and featured a number of characters who are referenced in the credits but do not appear: The people digging in the alley show up in the second half of the movie. Henry comes across two kids excavating rows of dimes from the asphalt in the street. The landlady shows up in the second half, in a scene where Henry goes into the lobby of the apartment building and takes out his anger on a bench. "You stop kicking my bench!" the landlady shouts at him. "That's good wood!"

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Connections

Referenced in Very Mean Men (2000)

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Soundtracks

Digah's Stomp
Written and performed by Fats Waller (as Thomas "Fats" Waller)
In 1927.
© Peer International Corp. (Chappel & Co. U.S.A) (BMI)
© Copyright 1976. David Lynch.
© 1976 O.K. Paul Music.

User Reviews

An invitation to David Lynch's World...

As an admirer of David Lynch's work I think that Eraserhead is the most fitting introduction to this man's World as you are likely to get.

It was on the strength of this film that Mel Brooks chose David to direct Elephant Man. Having said that can't you see the similarities in style and content?

Saying Lynch is weird is like saying the Beatles wrote good pop music. Lynch's weirdness can effect one on a very profound, almost spiritual level, eg Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks.

Eraserhead is a hard film to enjoy but it's well worth the effort, if only for Jack Nance's superb visual performance, and a deeper appreciation of Lynch's mis-en-scene.