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 | synthetic meat | metamorphosis | 

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Taglines:

A dream of dark and troubling things

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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:

Eraserhead

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

After a poorly received test screening, in which David Lynch believes he had mixed the soundtrack at too high a volume, the director cut twenty minutes of footage from the film, bringing its length to 89 minutes. Among the cut footage is a scene featuring Coulson as the infant's midwife, another of a man torturing two women-one again played by Catherine E. Coulson -with a car battery, and one of Henry toying with a dead cat.

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Goofs

The man's hands on the door at the beginning.

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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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Connections

Referenced in Funny Bones (1995)

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Soundtracks

In Heaven
(uncredited)
Music by Peter Ivers
Lyrics by David Lynch

User Reviews

Amazing masterpiece of filmmaking!

You have to dissect it, watch it more than once, eat, breathe it and live it before you can get it. There are lots of explanations for all of the things that "make no sense"... it's art in it's purest form - you take away from it what you want! You can see Henry struggling with suddenly being thrust into the role of father and husband, his sin, his temptation, his life, his death, his dreams... too much symbolism to even get into here... anyone who dismisses this film as "junk that makes no sense" will never get it, and that's OK. But for the rest of us, it's on our "Top Ten Films of All Time" list. Brilliant and beautiful and horrifying! Makes you think for weeks... YEARS. I love it. Highly recommended to those who are open-minded! AMAZING FILM!!