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Eraserhead

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If you're reading this, then you've seen this movie or are at least curious what all the hype is about?

The late Stanley Kubrick, the only major filmmaker Lynch has cited as a direct cinematic influence, believed that ERASERHEAD was one of the most perfect "cinematic experiences" created to date. This movie has enjoyed success on the midnight movie circuit for years, particularly in NYC where it ran almost every night for something like five years straight. I've seen it on big and little screens in three different states. Insofar as interpretations are concerned, I've long since tossed all that out the window. In terms of rational comprehension, ERASERHEAD is the fabled big fish that remains brilliantly elusive of any attempts to capture it.

This movie gets better, and more humorous, every time I watch it: in my opinion - ERASERHEAD is the cinematic experience that comes the closest to capturing "dream logic", next to the equally brilliant WAKING LIFE. If you ever get the chance, watch ERASERHEAD in a movie theater with a great sound system - you will understand why Stanley Kubrick was moved enough to make his statement. It's like experiencing someone else's dream - the ultimate act of voyeurism? As if I was granted audience to a demonstration of delicate brain surgery, and catching glimpses of the patient's face throughout the operation (particularly the opening scene). It creates such a visceral landscape with its dark, peculiar selections of image and sound, that it seems to be constantly reminding you that the "soul" is helplessly sloshing around somewhere inside an organic bag of blood, bone, hair follicles, industrial shrapnel, dirt piles and antique radiators; a terrifying and beautiful delineation of a living creature suddenly made aware of its own being (birth imagery abounding). It is a perfect symphony of sound and image, amazing work for a first time feature film director! I've seen this movie placed in the HORROR section at local video stores; it's better suited for the COMEDY section, I fear. The movie was created on the AFI campus in California; production beginning his last year there, and continuing on for several more years in secret. Not for everyone, but certainly worth a peek.

I own a copy of ERASERHEAD on DVD, finally. It is available at David Lynch's website for forty-five bucks plus shipping and handling. Remastered sound and image, includes a few extras - the standout is a "stylized" interview with Lynch about the making of the film, the characters involved and anecdotes.

BTW - where is WILD AT HEART and LOST HIGHWAY for our DVD pleasure?

WHEN will they re-release this masterpiece on video and DVD? This film is purest Lynch. It isn't a movie, it's an experiance. David Lynch himself said that he didn't so much think of Eraserhead, than feel it. Never have I heard a more true statement. 'Eraserhead' is Atmosphere with a capital A, and contains some truly unnerving moments that come straight out of our darkest nightmares. David Lynch is a true artist. To watch Eraserhead is to be totally absorbed into another world; Henry and his bizarre hairdo; the gentle yet strangely disturbing Lady in the Radiator; and last but not least, the hideous 'Baby,' a truly grotesque little monster who is more terrifying than any other man-made creature in motion picture history. (Lynch has refused to say how he created the Baby....IF he made it, that is. CREEEEEEEEEEEEPYYYYY! ) There is an unrelenting sense of menace and fear throughout all the proceedings. Some may huff and dismiss 'Eraserhead' as an 'artsy-fartsy' flick intended for the smallest film cults. 'Eraserhead' is not cult; it's timeless. If only Lynch would create another film of this magnitude and purity. Maybe he still will.I look forward to the re-release of this ignored classic with great anticipation.

David Lynch's surreal masterpiece ERASERHEAD, is in my humble opinion the most personal 90 minutes of celluloid ever created. As with many of his other films, theories abound about this "nightmare on film," and it seems people have more fun dissecting (no pun intended) the imagery and symbols than actually watching the film. It's certainly not enjoyable to watch, or entertaining by any stretch of the imagination, but it is compelling, engrossing, and disturbing. A true film "experience." There's never been anything like it from anyone else, or Lynch himself for that matter, and more likely than not we'll never see anything like it again. At it's most simplistic it's Lynch's fears and horror concerning "family" and "industrialism" taken to the nth degree. Most people describe it as post-apocolyptic, but it's truly modern/contemporary, just dark and unfamiliar to most. But again, like with many of Lynch's films--especially the recent MULHOLLAND DRIVE--you'd have to be David Lynch to fully understand everything that takes place or is shown, and that's what makes his movies so intriguing. Are his films weird and mysterious on purpose, or is this all normal to him? Of course none of us can ever know. Let's hope the rumors are true and that this will finally be available in the very near future.

Some films target your mind and seek to educate you. Some films expect you to put your mind on hold and pull for a purely emotional reaction. A few films (darn few these days) seek to stimulate both the mind and the heart together. "Eraserhead" is none of these; it is a visual experience that invites your mind's input, but only after your most basic emotions have had their fill. If that sounds confusing, brother we're just getting warmed up.

I will not relay the events that take place on the screen (I prefer not to say " the plot" as that term feels limiting). A description of the events would be counterproductive; it would not elicit a basal emotional response. Suffice it to say that odd events take place, framed in an environment that both challenges and directs the senses. Auditorially, the film has a ubiquitous background of almost rhythymic industrial noises. Visually, the film is balck and white, shrouded by ill defined borders and shados. This framework gives the events a dream-like quality. The events are strange, and yet, strangely familiar (new parents and guys who have met their girl's parents over dinner will recognize some of the feelings protrayed in the film).

After seeing "Eraserhead" you are likely to feel confused. Try to resist the impulse to analyze it intellectually. Instead, take stock of your feelings. Did the film repulse you, attract you, or both? Are you intrigued? Disgusted? Nervous? Excited? Personally, I had numerous emotional reactions to the film, some of which developed gradually. That kind of varied response is something vast majority of banal Hollywood fare can never hope to provide.

Above all, avoid the temptation to make "Eraserhead" a mere intellectual exercise. Anyone claiming to know the "true meaning" of the film is either deluded or putting you on. Watch it, see what it does to you and learn from it. There are very few movies in existence that can ofer that.

This review pertains only to this particular edition. If you want commentary on the film, there are many fine reviews elsewhere.

This is called a "Limited Edition 2 Disc Gift Box" and you're probably wondering (as I did) what exactly this means and if it's worth the $75 list price. Here's what you get: two 8" by 8" heavy cardboard boxes containing one DVD each, along with a square booklet. Each box has an outer sleeve (one for Eraserhead, one for The Short Films of David Lynch), and both boxes have a larger sleeve that holds both. These sleeves aren't quite like DVD slipcases - they're much more flimsy and cheap. The 8x8 boxes are about an inch thick, but are basically empty. The DVD is, of course, very thin and the booklet is 20 pages. I have no idea why they are so thick, unless they're supposed to be like 16mm film boxes or something.

The booklets are a bit like scrapbooks. They are mostly pictures of varying quality along with a page talking about the DVD transfer. All-in-all, it has about five or ten minutes worth of interest - there's just not much there to see.

The DVDs are exactly the same as the individual releases. You get the same edition with the same special features.

Ultimately, you'll need to determine the value of this set for yourself. I see no reason to own it. You can buy both Eraserhead and the Short Films for $40 or less. The booklets are nothing special and the packaging isn't great either. It's not like the films get the "criterion" treatment or anything like that. The individual releases are pretty nice already, and at less than half the price of this set, I'd recommend buying them separately. I'm pretty disappointed with this actually.

Eraserhead is tough to explain. I love it, but find it hard to watch at times. This film seems to invoke feelings of isolation, depression, and sheer wierdness within the viewer (at least me as a viewer). It is truly a nightmare (imagine, as you watch, that this was a dream you had last night and that you have just awakened from that dream). I think that David Lynch did a great job with the imagery, sounds, etc... If hell has a waiting room, the land of ERASERHEAD is it. It's where things just are the way they are and there really isn't any escape. The characters in the movie are set fixtures who will never be anything more than they are. It is a world darker than most people's reality. I hope that soon this film will make it to the DVD market because it is truly a great film, although, not for all (and I can understand that). A close match for this film in my opinion is Santa Sangre directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky.

I saw this once in a theater years ago, then many dozens of times since I've watched and re-watched the horrible VHS copy I had, to the point where I have dedicated all Eraserhead dialogue to memory. It is a beautiful and hilarious one-of-a-kind film that stands up to Lynch's best work. (Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Elephant Man). What I never really knew or had a chance to appreciate until the release of this amazing DVD is how gorgeous the cinematography is, incredible lighting, every frame a sumptuous surrealist tableau... and the sound design may be even more amazing. Lynch did an incredible job with this remaster. And the on-screen interview with him is a joy to watch. I could listen to that guy talk for hours and hours... I don't care if he's talking about pie and car transmissions and stuffed animals instead of Eraserhead... just keep talking. Lynch is an Original and Eraserhead is a cinematic Treasure. The naysayers are all babies.

To all of my friends who say that LOST HIGHWAY AND MULHOLLAND DRIVE are so weird, I have one thing to say to you. "Watch ERASERHEAD." Lynch's first masterpiece that introduced him (gradually) to the world is a stunningly bizarre work of art, not cinema, but art, that makes BLUE VELVET look like a mainstream summer blockbuster by comparison.

Lynch regular Jack Nance plays Henry, a mild mannered young man who lives quietly in a bleak future universe filled with dirty old buildings and industrial machines that seem to run all hours of the day. One day Henry's world is turned upside down when he learns that his girlfriend became pregnant and had his "baby." The baby, it appears, is a mutant whose disfigurement was caused by the horribly polluted world in which they inhabit. The baby is sick, the wife leaves him, and Henry is forced to make a choice that could burden his conscience for the rest of his life.

Shot in beautiful black and white, Lynch creates a nightmare world in which machines are always heard rumbling away, characters are quirky, and the only escape Henry has is his own imagination. Lynch uses shocking and bizarre images to blend dreams with reality(which will become his trademark) It is the study of one lonely and depressed soul trapped in a nightmare universe where nobody cares. It is ERASERHEAD, if not David Lynch's best film, then it is certainly his most original. Watch it once, and it will haunt you for a long time to come. Watch it twice, and it will haunt you forever.

On the question of availibility, ERASERHEAD is not a film that you can find in your neighborhood Blockbuster. It's on moritorium and is very hard to find. But like Quentin Tarantino once said, the lack of availability often adds to a cult status. The best way to get your hands on a copy of ERASERHEAD, is to do it like I did, bid for it on EBAY. It might run for a little more than an average video. But I guarantee, you will not regret spending the extra money.

This movie is a surreal masterpiece. It can be comprehended in so many ways. I wouldn't like to call it brilliant, but it is amazing. The best part about the movie is that it's so bizzare and creative. It's so surreal because you can tell it came out of the very depth of Lynch's imagination. It's a world that nobody has been to or seen. We meet people that we never met, but can see our reflections within their actions and emotions. What I also like about the movie is the fact that it camoflouges your mood and present atmosphere. On your best days, it can seem like a comedy because it's so silly. But on a dark night, the baby can still send you chills.
Warning: NOT FOR PREGNANT MOMS, NEWLYWEDS, OR THE SQUEAMISH.

One could spend hours attempting to explain and/or intellectualize this film, but the effort would be wasted. One must react emotionally to this film. It's a nightmare. It's horrific. It's down right uncomfortable, but the viewer can still grasp onto shards of beauty.

Without question, Lynch has created a virtually flawless piece of cinematography. All the scenes could be a painting, a photograph. Everything has a place, even if the place is without concrete definition. This is abstraction twisted within reality. Maybe, that is the definition of surrealism.

This film certainly is a masterpiece - a definition of cinematic art.

The soundtrack is incredible. It's subtle but intensely powerful. It can't be overlooked. It will affect you and how you react to each scene. Everything has its place.

With that stated, the acting is captivating in a minimalist way. Every actor/actress is flawless.

I've said enough. Enjoy the nightmare that is "Eraserhead."