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Movies / On DVD / Eraserhead
Eraserhead

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Eraserhead (1976)

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Reviews Counted:8

Fresh:7

Rotten:1

Average Rating:7.5/10

Consensus: David Lynch's surreal Eraserhead uses detailed visuals and a creepy score to create a bizarre and disturbing look into a man's fear of parenthood.

Rated: 18

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:12-09-2008

Synopsis: Director David Lynch's feature-film debut is a masterpiece of the macabre and grotesque. Reportedly a reaction to the news that he was about to become a father, Lynch's ERASERHEAD follows a... Director David Lynch's feature-film debut is a masterpiece of the macabre and grotesque. Reportedly a reaction to the news that he was about to become a father, Lynch's ERASERHEAD follows a sensitive young man as he struggles to cope with impending parenthood. Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) lives in a hopeless industrial landscape, lusting after the beautiful woman who lives in the apartment across the hall. After his girlfriend, Mary (Charlotte Stewart), informs him of her pregnancy, he is forced to eat dinner with her extremely odd family. The baby is eventually born, only it isn't a human baby at all; it's a deformed creature that resembles a lizard. The baby won't stop crying, a horrifyingly piercing wail that drives Mary insane. Left alone with the baby, Henry is serenaded by a woman who lives inside his radiator, and soon he decides to murder his baby in order to stop the nightmare once and for all. Five years in the making, ERASERHEAD contains all of the trademark attributes of a Lynch film--haunting visuals, an ethereal score, unsettling sound design, and, most notably, a black sense of humor--creating a world onscreen that is exhilarating, terrifying, and unique. [More]

Starring: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Jeanne Bates, Joseph Allen

Starring: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Jeanne Bates, Joseph Allen, Judith Roberts, Allen Joseph, Jennifer Lynch

Director: David Lynch

Director: David Lynch
Screenwriter: David Lynch
Producer: David Lynch
Composer: David Lynch, Fats Waller, Peter Ivers

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Eraserhead

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1 - 8 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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David Lynch has "cleaned up" his freaky feature debut, but don't worry - it's still an amazing industrial nightmare.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
09/12/08
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
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David Lynch’s 1977 feature debut Eraserhead is one of those rare films that really deserves its cult status – a nightmarish, heavily symbolic story set in a postapocalyptic future.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
09/12/08
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
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...unwrap this baby and you will discover a whole universe of untold depths and hidden textures in which to become trapped, lost or sublimely elevated. Lynch's debut feature is freakish perfection.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/03/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
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Lynch's remarkable first feature is a true original.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
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Compared to the rest of Lynch's work this is a crude assemblage of ideas that would be used to far greater effect in later movies.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Almar Haflidason
Almar Haflidason
BBC
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This is a classic, no matter how comfortable it is to watch.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Steve Beard
Steve Beard
Empire Magazine
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The mind boggles to learn that Lynch labored on this pic for five years.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 1 Comment
09/25/07
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
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It represented a monumental shift in how movies are seen and digested -- one that raised the level of aptitude and film literacy throughout the world.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
06/14/03
Douglas Pratt
Douglas Pratt
Hollywood Reporter
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1 - 8 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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