Eraserhead Movie Review

Starring: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph

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Review Summary

Although David Lynch worked on four other films during the five years he labored to put together this one, "Eraserhead" was his first signature achievement. He was 31 when it was released in 1977. This "dream of dark and troubling things," as its creator described it, concerns Henry Spencer, a young man who lives in what seems to be an abandoned building in a heavily industrial area surrounded by constantly-running machines and noise. The lights flicker on and off, there are bowls of water in his drawers, and he watches the Lady in the Radiator sing about finding happiness in heaven. His girlfriend Mary X has spastic fits, and eventually gives birth to a nightmare mutant baby. This starkly-shot black-and-white film is sui generis and unforgettable, like being tossed into the middle of someone else's bad dream or acid trip, and reportedly was one of Stanley Kubrick's favorites.
David Loftus, Resident Scholar

ERASERHEAD is the first full-length David Lynch picture, theatrically released in 1977.

In an industrial city, Henry Spencer gets married and becomes the father of a mutant. His wife leaves him and Henry begins to have strange dreams about "the Lady in a Radiator". Soon, reality fades and Henry becomes part of his dreams.
Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 85%

**Fantasy or Science Fiction?** - fantasy story on present day Earth
Inner Struggle Yes
Plotlet: - search for identity/new understanding
Family Relations Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed
Body type - average (man)
Events of movie makes character more... - irritated
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor? - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - none - general circumstances

Setting
Earth setting: - 20th century (1970's to Present) - Polluted - Post-disaster
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Big cities? Yes
Kind of city - Dirty, crime-ridden (like NY)

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - explicit references to deaths
Tone of movie - depressed/sad - fearful
Check here if B&W Yes
Kinds of F/X - Things that change shape/morph - exotic aliens - nasty human transformations

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