Eraserhead (1977) (Criterion Collection) UK Only [Blu-ray] [2020]

Fascinating and classic David Lynch!

I remember watching this surreal head trip of a film for the first time when I was a child when it was shown on channel 4 sometime in the eighties and the experience never left me. It is one of those films that whenever I revisit it, I always respond to it in a different way. Sometimes I will be able to interpret the meaning of the story and the imagery so that it makes sense, other times I find it really funny or deeply unsettling, or both at the same time. Whatever it’s true meaning, it remains a fascinating and truly original work of art, and it was a no brainier obtaining it on Blu ray. On watching for the umpteenth time, it struck me as being about a man, Henry, who is internally resisting the pull of commitment, with a child in tow, whilst being in conflict with his repressed sexual inclinations. When it all reaches a head (no pun intended), he ultimately chooses to erase the parts of his life which are leading him to the brink of quiet despair. Others may interpret it differently, but that is one of the many commendable qualities of it. Other notable elements are the direction, the industrial soundtrack and sound design overall, the production design and art direction, and all the actors involved; in particular, Jack Nance as the beleaguered Henry. Over 40 years later, Eraserhead still packs a twisted and bizarre punch to the brain, in spite of it’s low budget. Everything about it marks it out as one of the most distinctive films of the seventies, and is arguably one of David Lynch’s best films as well as being one of the best directorial debuts ever made. The Blu ray is all the more worth acquiring because of the inclusion of some of Lynch’s early works, as well as a great transfer of the film itself. A Midnight Movie Classic and a must watch. Highly recommended.

I watched Eraserhead for the very first time about a week ago. When I briefly left my flat immediately afterwards, I felt distant and sedated. I ran a few errands in a shuffling daze and felt strangely uneasy about everything and everyone around me. Such is the state that this kind of film can induce. As other reviewers have already remarked, Eraserhead has a disturbing dreamlike quality that taps into many subconscious themes. I almost feel now as though I didn't in fact watch the film, but actually dreamt about it. Those horrible images of the premature lizard-baby...the way it breathed and its eye followed Henry around the room. All of these images keep coming back to me, either in sudden flashes at my desk at work or when I'm in bed at night. The puff-cheeked lady in the radiator, in her transfixed elation, came across as truly evil. I was very interested to read that another viewer interprets her presence as a representation of suicide. Just as a side note - did anyone notice that the zig-zag carpet in the foyer of Henry's flat complex is the same design as the Red Room that Cooper dreams about in Twin Peaks? I thought that was a really interesting insight into recurring Lynchian motifs.

This was the most disturbing but thought provoking at the same time. I think that if you see this and automatically think its weird for the sake of being weird then you didn't understand it all that well. I think there are many different things this could be about. these are my theories 1: Henry is actually having a nightmare about his soon to be born child. 2: it is set in some sort of future nuclear apocalypse that would explain the depressing broken down industrial setting. 3:Henry is a just a very depressed man with insomnia that hallucinates the strange visions. 4: !!!SPOILER!!! at the end of the film when Henry meets the lady in the radiator and she sings in heaven she is persuading henry it is alright to put his suffering child's life to an end. 5: !!!SPOILER!!! at the end when henry meet the lady in the radiator and you see his head fall out of the sky that could be henry as he committed suicide out of grief of killing his deformed baby. overall you can see how interesting and I have left out how the constant sounds of the factories making huge noises and his radiator hissing it will get in your head and it makes you understand Henrys situation it also adds so much more atmosphere. The film is so depressing that when his baby finally eats and him and his wife smile it fills you with a good feeling. I cannot wait to see other films by David lynch if they are this brilliant I may have a new favourite director. the blu ray picture quality is amazing as always.

Where to start with a film that features a deformed baby, a woman in a radiator, chickens that flap about on the plate when they're about to be carved and the strangest haircut ever (besides my own). Well this is David Lynch's first full length feature and is stranger than Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway put together. It is not very dialogue heavy; it's more atmospheric and nightmarish really. Nor is it particularly scary- in fact it is quite beautiful. There is one scene that stands out in my mind as being particularly disturbing though: where the father is sat staring at the main protagonist (Eraserhead) with a fixed smile on his face and his daughter walks in to stand behind him with her hand clasped over her mouth in horror. I know it doesn't sound particularly disturbing but it is when you see it. This is certainly not for everyone- but if you are a fan of all things weird and disturbing then this is a must.

There is simply nothing else quite like this film. I love Tod Browning, Dwain Esper, Ed Wood jr, John Walters.Jan Svankmajer etc This is of that realm in my mind. I've watched it 4 times in 30 years and I think it's meant to be an exercise into making the viewer never wanting to have children EVER! I never want to hear what Lynchs thoughts or motives were when making this and nor would I ever want to hear what 'experts' make of it. I have a friend that took a first date to see this at the pictures. This is, possibly, the ballsiest thing that anyone I know has ever done. Anyway this is an absolute unique Cinema classic.

Why use a lot of words to describe a motion picture that visualizes the subconscious? Suffice it to say that this is still David Lynch's best. An oneiric odyssey, the sort of troubling, never-ending dream one can have when suffering from a high fever, in which the most bizarre and seemingly hopeless situations nearly drive one to despair. So far, I've never seen another film evoking that sort of atmosphere so well. Strange yet familiar. Archetypal. ERASERHEAD is a unique work of art, a milestone in cinema. Don't try to understand or explain this film, open up your mind and simply undergo it, visit the dream world while being awake. An exceptional experience.

I like David Lynch's work and own many of his movies on DVD. Eraserhead, his first feature-length movie also found it's way into my collection. The only thing I can say is: That is a super-weird movie, that scared and disgusted me, which gives a lot of room for interpretation and which fascinated me. Not everyone likes this movie, but I think everyone with an interest for movies should see it once.

Wow what a movie. I only saw this once way back in the late 70's. Has always stuck in my mind! When I saw it on Amazon ordered know! Great price and great shipping.

Rarität

Un classico intramontabile

Je découvre tardivement ce chef d'œuvre de David Lynch sorti en 1977. Vraiment je ne m'attendais pas à un tel choc. Pour ma part, je l'ai visionné plusieurs fois afin de cerner cette histoire baignée dans une atmosphère glauque, fantastique, surprenante, déroutante, épaisse...un véritable délice en noir et blanc et en version originale. Passé presque inaperçu lors de sa sortie, c'est un grand classique, du vrai cinéma, avec des frissons à foison...David Lynch, à qui l'on doit l'inoubliable " Eléphant man " de 1980, a réussit à terminer le tournage de Eraserhead après maintes difficultés financières et techniques. A voir, revoir, ou à faire découvrir pour les cinéphiles avertis !!

First off, Eraserhead it is not a movie. It is not a film. It is a piece of art. Having said that, this movie will not be enjoyed by those who enjoy movies that are mainstream and only made for those not used to watching movies with an open mind. The movie you are watching here is like 'a piece of art that has to be viewed to be understood'. This movie is like taking drugs, without taking drugs. It's a drug in itself. In fact, I can't even imagine taking drugs with this movie (your head or eraserhead might explode). This is a movie like no other (written in 1977), but looks like a movie from 2005. I would compare this movie to Brazil, Naked Lunch or even The Order (Cremaster Series) in the fact that it forces you to watch this movie in almost a stand still (it's like your stunned and not sure what or why your watching this movie). At the end of the movie, you turn to yourself and say "Wow, what did I just watch?" Eraserhead is the other film that excels in sound. A frankly disturbing concoction of industrial score and white noise with undercurrents of musical hall and sonorous church organ, it is almost an extra character in the film, and easily it's most prominent factor. Yet Eraserhead is to be recommended for more than its incidentals. An impenetrable and gloomy work, what is it actually about? Who is the credited `man in the planet' who pulls levers that control giant spermatozoa? Many questions like this permeate a film which perhaps has to be seen several times to get over the initial shock of it's avant gardism. Lynch extracts the everyday and supplants it with the exceptionally bizarre. The experience of meeting a girlfriend's parents for the first time is never worse than here, where the parents in question gyrate spasmodically to the animated legs of a blood-spitting chicken. It's these scenes - along with the deformed mutant baby - that could lend the film the air of an abortion debate. Birth and repressed sexuality thrive throughout the film, from suckling puppies to the seductive appeal of the `beautiful girl across the hall' and a mother-in-law that gets too close for comfort. I guess the entire film could be a man's mental breakdown when faced with the premature responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood. Though to be honest I couldn't even begin to imagine what it's really all about. Encroaching blackness fills every scene, where lights are intermittent at best, and at worse fail completely. Often sets - particularly the bedroom when `Mary X' is feeding the child - are like prison cells. Two of the most eerie segments involve a title-explaining dream (?) where Henry's (Nance's) head is carved into pencil rubbers and an unsettling musical number from the `lady in the radiator'. This is the same lady with two candyfloss-like lumps on her cheeks that alternates her stage appearances between stamping on giant sperm to singing with religious convictions. Direction and cinematography are brilliant throughout, though the climax is the ultimate extension of a film that borders on darker, extremely unpleasant aspects of reality. Folks, if you want to impress your friends that think they have seen it all (and haven't seen Eraserhead, then my friends, this film is a film for anyone who enjoys to go to the 3rd world for a dreamlike, drug indused moment). I'm still in augh over this film and I've seen it at least 5 times. Must buy for all movie collector's of the abnormal (yet mindblowing movies). I'm shocked this is Lynch's first movie (he did many shorts prior to this, but for a first movie 'KUDOS' Lynch). You must see his other great films also... The Shorts Of David Lynch, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Blue Velvet, Hotel Room, Wild At Heart, Lumiere And Company, The Elephant Man, Dune and of course Twin Peaks (The Series) and Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me (2 of my favorites). I'm still patiently waiting for Twin Peaks the 2nd Series and Lost Highway, to come out on DVD (my VHS copies are getting worn out). People if you are still reading this review, stop and click on the 'Purchase ASAP' button. I own 'Eraserhead 2000', it has been cleaned and remastered and has an extra long interview with Lynch himself (talking about filming Eraserhead). "In Heaven Everything Is Fine" - Quoted from the movie.