Eraser Head (1977)

Directed by: David Lynch | 85 minutes | drama, horror, fantasy | Actors: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne Bates, Judith Anna Roberts, Laurel Near, V. Pipps-Wilson, Jack Fish

David Lynch has not so much made a film with ‘Eraserhead’, but rather a work of art. It is also not surprising that the director himself is sparse in his commentary on the film and prefers to leave it to the viewer to form an opinion. Although the story is miles away from reality, the experience of fear and horror that the film periodically generates is as real as it gets. Main character Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) is a stranger in a strange, post-apocalyptic world where the noise of machines can be heard day and night. When he is invited by his girlfriend Mary X (Charlotte Stewart) to join her and her parents at the table, Henry is blown away by mother X (Jeanne Bates). Mary has given birth to Henry’s child and this means that Henry and Mary will have to get married and live together. Anyone who expects romantic scenes on the basis of this information will be disappointed.

The worst is not so much that the young couple has to live in Henry’s drab and lonely room, but rather the fact that the baby is there too. At least, if we can speak of a baby. Rather, it is a bizarre mutant with a monstrous head and a body wrapped in rags. When Henry is left alone with the baby when Mary can no longer hear his screams, he is seduced by his neighbor. As they make love, Henry seems to slowly drift away into a nightmare set entirely in a parallel world hidden (sic!) behind the radiator. What is then completed cannot be captured in words and once again confirms the aesthetic character of the film. Metaphors of death and life, the divine and the sinful alternate to a climax that could be interpreted as Henry’s serious consideration to end his life.

Watching ‘Eraserhead’ is an experience that is not for every viewer. Those who like a reasonable degree of clarity and predictability should certainly not bother to see this film. However, for the lover of surreal and dark films, this is a classic. The entire film seems to aim to make the viewer feel uncomfortable. The actors’ motor skills are wooden and sometimes reminiscent of the ‘silent films’, the dialogues are short and forced and the ‘sound effects’ (provided by David Lynch himself) are worth mentioning to say the least. This film certainly leaves you with an uneasy feeling – but also a feeling of fascination.