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Eraserhead Details

1976 Certificate 15
  • 60
  • from 5274 members

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, .. Read more

Starring John Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Laurel Near, Jeanne Bates
Director David Lynch
Genres Horror

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Eraserhead

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.

Starring John Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Laurel Near, Jeanne Bates, Allen Joseph
Director David Lynch
Studio SCANBOX ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 25 mins
Certificate Certificate 15
Genres Horror
Language DVD: English
Released DVD: 20 Oct 2008
Production year: 1976
  • Critics' reviews (2) of Eraserhead

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    Filmed over a five-year period, this is the legendary cult movie that put director David Lynch on the morbid mystery map. Unlike any film ever made, Lynch's surreal study in urban alienation, retarded sexuality and parental nightmare is a relentless assault on the senses (maternal ones especially) that recalls Luis Buñuel's ground-breaking Un Chien Andalou in its powerfully graphic monochrome imagery and non-linear narrative. Consistently creepy, arcane and unsettling, many will find Lynch's intense mood piece increasingly uncomfortable to watch.

    • Radio Times
  • Lynch's remarkable first feature is a true original. There's little in the way of a coherent story: nervy Henry, living... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • Most helpful member's review of Eraserhead

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  • 21 out of 22 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Surrealist masterpiece

    I have been a huge fan of David Lynch for quite some time, and for some reason had just never gotten round to Eraserhead. Well I was not disappointed at all, it... more

      • CWaddell from Dundee, Scotland
  • Most recent members' review of Eraserhead

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  • 21 out of 22 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Surrealist masterpiece

    I have been a huge fan of David Lynch for quite some time, and for some reason had just never gotten round to Eraserhead. Well I was not disappointed at all, it... more

      • CWaddell from Dundee, Scotland
  • News and features

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    Wild At Heart - Series 1

    David Lynch returns with top marks

    • 23 Feb 2007

    Fans of David Lynch may be excited to find that his latest cinematic offering, Inland Empire, has been awarded five stars out of five by the latest issue of Empire magazine. Starring Laura Dern, the film is described by reviewer Damon Wise as "a dazzling and exquisitely original riddle", telling the story of an actress who believes her latest project is cursed. But Lynch followers will know that his films often dispel the notion of traditional narrative in favour of fragmented and... Read more

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    • 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 ...