Eraserhead is another film in the line of midnight movies of the 70's, that sits along with The Rocky Horror Picture Show(1975) and Pink Flamingos(1972). Tho in all honesty, Eraserhead puts the true midnight in midnight movies. Watching Eraserhead gives the viewer a weary sick feeling that fits with a fever dream at the dead of night. Eraserhead feels like a nightmare, and with that i can protest against people who doesn't say it makes a lick of sense.
The reason it doesn't make sense is because it is a nightmare, Simply put. The movie deals with a man named Henry(played by Lynch favorite Jack Nance) who lives in a dark dreamworld. He soon discovers that his then current girlfriend has had a baby and is being invited to dinner to meet his soon to be in laws, once there, his world is thrown out of wack, by now having to marry and raise a child that's deformed.
Henry himself is a strange,lost man. The world is dark to him,and were seeing this crazy nightmare world thur those eyes. Everything about the world of Eraserhead is dark. From the gloomy shadows, to the smoke, and to the overall rotting area. Most of this could just be based on his point of view of the world.
Apart from the world, David Lynch gives the movie all his classic odd touches. The dinner scene itself is a great part, he makes the most of how strange it is to meet your girlfriends parents for the first time, while adding the bleeding man made chicken. The baby is another strong set piece. When they said deformed, they really meant it. This baby is a vi son straight out of hell. The best way to describe it, is a bag of organs with a strange animal head poping from where a head should be.
One favorite thing i love about this film is the Lady in the Radiator. In many ways this deer cheek woman is a angel of death that drives Henry to madness and murder. Tho in the same way, she is a vison of hope for Henry. From his point of view, death is the only safe way out of his own personal hell. Thur out the movie there are many symbols of her telling him that hes going insane and he should kill his own child.
There not much other then that I can add to that, that already hasn't been said about Eraserhead. It's a dark and odd movie, that isn't everyones cup of tea. But if you enjoy other Lynch films, it's well worth the watch.
