‎Eraserhead (1977) directed by David Lynch • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Eraserhead

1977 Directed by David Lynch

Where your nightmares end...

Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

Jack Nance Charlotte Stewart Allen Joseph Jeanne Bates Judith Roberts Laurel Near T. Max Graham Jennifer Chambers Lynch Hal Landon Jr. Jean Lange Darwin Joston

89 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Lynchead ★★★★★ 18

Funny how this film doesn't seem disturbing until you describe it to those who haven't seen it.
Review by Wes ★★★★ 4

david lynchs kids: aw you made a movie about what its like to be a dad?? can we see it?

david lynch: ....um
Review by Arielrocks5 ★★★★★ 59

....

You know? I'm not gonna lie. I thought this was going to be a lot harder to watch than it actually was.

Granted, it's still disturbing, weird, and very, VERY abstract, but I never felt lost while watching it. Everything is in place to be read into and follow along with so long as you're willing to pay close attention to it.

It's a creepy little movie focusing highly on imagery and this weird sounding wind noise always playing in the background, giving the vibe of taking place in a different plane of existence while sorta taking place inside the mind of someone experiencing some form of nightmare.

Yet it never comes off as too hard or too insane…
Review by Katie ★★★★ 5

david lynch, WHAT THE FUCK
Review by nathaxnne walker (the curse made flesh) ★★★★½ 7

Marrying early silent film comedy with gnostic body horror, Eraserhead is the sort of movie experience which everyone can probably relate to, even when they wish they could not. If you have been uncomfortable going over to your romantic partner's parents' house for dinner, if you dread the long walk home from the pencil factory, if you feel weird interacting with the neighbor across the hall with whom you would like to have or have had amorous intrigue with, if you would like to escape into the calming sounds emitted by the radiator, if you have just picked the new baby up from the hospital and don't know what to do now that it is really home and sitting on…
Review by Peter Strauss 14

Assigning a star rating to this movie would be like grading a Salvador Dali piece with a star rating. It's utterly absurd and simplifies the work to the point of insult. Eraserhead has more in common with a Dali painting than another film at your multiplex, it's a piece of art, not entertainment. I would be more comfortable sitting and watching this in a gallery than a theatre with twelve-dollar popcorn combos.

People constantly wonder what this or that means, but what does it matter? Only the naive ask what a Pollock or Rothko painting is supposed to mean. The important thing is what the piece does to you. How do you respond? Lynch's later works are more like movies…

Recent reviews

Review by Benn West ★★★★½

What the fuck david... why did I see this as an 8 year old
Review by icebreaker ★★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Eraserhead is surrealistic masterpiece by David Lynch.
David Lynch shows us that you don't need a big crew or or budget to make a great movie.
But it isn't for anyone. It is hard to watch for people who don't like surrealism, its weird and strange. the movie looks like a nightmare from the main character Henry Spencer, about his fears, and experiences as a father. The end is open.

But all in all its a great movie who is clearly underrated.
I definitely recommend to watch it.
Review by Aaron T. Rex ★★★★★

So unique, that's what it comes down to. There's nothing that I've seen that's really like this and while it's unpleasant at times, I just can't look away from it.
Review by chesneylittle ★★★★½

Endlich habe ich mir dieses Meisterwerk des bizarren Kinos auch gegeben und kann meinen Senf dazu geben. Eigentlich muss über dieses Stück Filmgeschichte nichts mehr gesagt werden, vor allem weil einem erst einmal die Worte fehlen zu beschreiben, was man gerade erlebt hat. Denn genau das passt am Besten, es ist kein FIlm für den gemütlichen Abend auf dem Sofa, es ist aufwühlend, anstrengend und verwirrend. Ein Film wie ein Trip schreibe ich manchmal ganz gerne, hier ist es eher der Trip in Filmform, Albtraum des gesunden Geists und dennoch faszinierend. Der Sound, die Kamera, das Ambiente, all das Grauen und die Bilder. Selten wird das Innenleben einer Figur so gekonnt visualisiert, selten sind so eindrucksvolle Bilder des Verfalls auf Film gebannt, die gerade noch Kunst sind.
Großartig!
Review by Harrison Solar ★★★★½

A masterpiece in surreal body horror. Technically, the movie is perfect, with amazing acting, cinematography, and the best sound design I've ever heard. The only problem is that the movie goes too abstract towards the end and sacrifices story. Not terrible, but still bothered me. Overall, this movie is amazing, and something everyone should watch.
Review by Neguuy ★★★★

October count : 16 / 31

With Eraserhead, David Lynch lays down elements of his style that will appear a lot in his career : an obsession with lights and electricity, a special care for sound design, and a certain talent for transdimensional horror. David Lynch's horror does not simply show frightening events, but makes the film itself menacing and alarming through frantic editing and maddening effects.
The sequences with the smiling blond woman and the crazy climax can be seen later in works such as Inland Empire, Mulholland Drive or the Black Lodge sequences in Twin Peaks as well as the infamous 8th episode of Twin Peaks : The Return.
Eraserhead takes a lot of time during various scenes…
Review by Nando ★★★½

I felt so at ease watching this. Don't know why. There's a little bit of humor, the main character is adorable. Despite the pace at times, this is still interesting to watch.
Review by Ryan Ward

eh..?
Review by Andrew Milito

I'm still acquiring my taste for Lynch, so I won't pretend I understand everything in his eccentric debut film, let alone love everything about it. I will say that when viewing it as a cautionary tale for unprepared first-time parents, it is undeniably effective in being utterly terrifying. Naturally, it's just the weirder stuff - the Man in the Planet, and the dream sequence that the film gets its name from - that starts to lose me, and will likely need to be examined further with a rewatch. Lynch is already doing weird and inventive things behind the camera, with the stark black-and-white cinematography and droning around design creating a surreal, unnerving industrial hellscape. Jack Nance gives an emotive performance that, when paired with many other aspects of the film, feels ripped right out of the strangest silent film ever.

And that baby? Oof. Maybe I won't have children...