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.Written by
Jacob Samuelson
Stanley Kubrick made the cast of The Shining (1980) watch this film (among others) to get in the mood for filming a horror picture. See more »
Goofs
Towards the end of the film, there is a picture of what appears to be the Hiroshima explosion hanging over Henry's nightstand. In the next shot, the picture is gone. See more »
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. See more »
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!" See more »
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.
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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.