American Film Institute, 1977

starring: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart

written and directed by: David Lynch

the plot: Reticent young printer Henry Spencer (Nance) wanders through the industrial wasteland of his town and returns to his shabby little apartment to learn from a neighbor that his ex-girlfriend Mary (Stewart) has invited him to dinner at her parents’ house. After an exceedingly awkward meal of tiny, fluid-spewing chickens, Mary explains that she has prematurely given birth to their bastard child. In light of this unexpected news, Henry agrees to marry her, and she and the baby move into his one-room apartment. The child, however, is hideously deformed. It’s apparently limbless body is encased in gauze, exposing only its grotesquely misshapen head. It refuses to eat and shrieks through the night, driving Mary to the brink of insanity. She soon goes home and leaves the newborn in Henry’s care, but its condition only worsens. Sickly sores appear all over the child’s beastly face and it gasps for breath. Henry, meanwhile, wanders through an increasingly surreal dreamscape in which he encounters a singing woman with oddly distended cheeks and finds numerous flagellate-like creatures in his bed. And, at one point, his head falls off.  

why it’s good: “Eraserhead” can make a strong case for weirdest movie of all time—and, as any Video Vault reader knows, that’s saying something. With his first full-length film, David Lynch set the tone for his career, which has since included such delightfully strange classics as “The Elephant Man,” “Dune,” “Lost Highway,” “Blue Velvet” “Wild at Heart” and “Mulholland Dr.” But “Eraserhead” trumps them all for pure, eerie surrealism and creepiness, and its influence on film and cult culture in general is undeniable (several punk bands have repeated the lyrics to the Lady in the Radiator’s song: “In heaven, everything is fine / You’ve got your good things and I’ve got mine”). In the famous dream sequence in which Henry’s head falls off, a boy finds it and brings it to a factory. There, it is processed through a machine and made into pencil erasers. While the scene helps explain the movie’s title, deeper meanings are difficult to ferret out. Several interpretations of the film have been suggested, though. Perhaps those flagellate-like creatures represent Henry’s tainted sperm, and his repulsion to his own baby mirrors his aversion to the ugly industrial world at large. Hard sayin’. The film is, at times, difficult to watch, not only because of its disturbing content but also the deliberately slow drag of the camera shots. Regardless, it’s well worth checking out for its surreal imagery and unforgettably bizarre scenes. When you see Mary attempt to feed her mutant baby, you’ll either love or despise this movie.

why you should own it: “Eraserhead” is almost worth owning simply for its black-and-white cover image of Henry Spencer with his Kramer-esque hairdo. The DVD has been cleaned up and remastered and includes a few extras. It’s a true cult classic, introducing viewers to the wonderfully warped mind of David Lynch, and definitely deserves a spot in your library.