Cult 101: Eraserhead (1977) on 35mm
Director: David Lynch Run Time: 89 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 1977
Starring: Allen Joseph, Charlotte Stewart, Jack Nance, Jeanne Bates, Judith Roberts
Country: United States
Language: English
Presented as part of the 2023 edition of Cult 101.
About the film:
A dream of dark and troubling things… David Lynch’s 1977 debut feature, Eraserhead, is both a lasting cult sensation and a work of extraordinary craft and beauty. With its mesmerizing black-and-white photography by Frederick Elmes and Herbert Cardwell, evocative sound design, and unforgettably enigmatic performance by Jack Nance, this visionary nocturnal odyssey continues to haunt American cinema like no other film.
“This one-of-a-kind picture doesn’t push the envelope — it shreds it entirely.”
—Matt Brunson, Film Frenzy
In the film, first time father Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child. A defining cult classic, and a favorite of filmmakers ranging from Mel Brooks to Gaspar Noé to Stanley Kubrick, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2004.
About the filmmaker:
David Lynch is an American filmmaker, painter, visual artist, musician, and writer. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Best Foreign Film twice, as well as the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival.
His acclaimed feature films – Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984), Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Lost Highway (1997), The Straight Story (1999), Mulholland Drive (2001), and Inland Empire (2006) – are characterized by his signature dream imagery and meticulous sound design. Lynch creates surrealist (and often bizarre) films that stay with you long after the screen goes black.
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