Post by Quorthon on May 3, 2005 15:10:47 GMT -5
Eraserhead
1977
B&W
Columbia Pictures
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Directed by: David Lynch
USA
As with any fan of horror or cult films, I have an interest in extremely bizarre cinema as well. And, as many of us undergrounders know, one doesn’t get much more bizarre than David Cronenberg or David Lynch. So, after viewing Lynch’s “Lost Highway” and “Blue Velvet” it became a goal of sorts for me to locate and view “Eraserhead,” generally considered his first feature-length motion picture.
Firstly, you really have to like this kind of off-the-wall strange kind of shit to appreciate a film like this. The story revolves around Henry (Eraserhead, we can assume), his girlfriend/wife, their baby and his life in what would appear to be some sort of ghetto apartment building. Really, what we have here is a lunatic montage of images and scenes that do a wonderful job of twisting viewers’ faces into various shocked grimaces and exasperations. It’s a beautiful cinematic piece just to watch, even without trying to figure out what the hell is happening. The imagery is eye-catching, shocking, and insane—and despite the relatively slow pace of the film, it does a fantastic job of holding attention through the unusual visuals. Here’s the standard breakdown:
The Good:
--The cinematography is outstanding, as is the atmosphere and sound.
--It has a feeling of a film from the 40’s or 50’s because of the extremely dark style of black and white photography, and the film grain (keep in mind that some of this grain could be related to the old video on which I viewed this psychotic montage).
--Excellent lighting.
--Lynch’s direction, of course, perfectly holds the insanity together.
--The special effects and shock value of the film still holds up extremely well, even after nearly 30 years.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help It:
--The acting is pretty good.
The Bad:
--The style of the film and its lunatic-artsy style will be a turn-off for a lot of people, as will the extremely dark atmosphere and slow pace. But those are also the qualities that would be appreciated by fans of this kind of film, so there’s kind of a catch-22 here.
The Ugly:
--Seeing the baby all sick and covered with sores.
Memorable Scene:
--Too many to mention, but I’m going to go with a scene near the beginning when Henry has dinner with his girlfriend’s family and he is asked to carve up the chickens.
Acting: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Cinematography: 10/10
Character Development: 7/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 2/10
Violence/Gore: 6/10 (there wasn’t much, but it was good)
Music: 9/10
Direction: 9/10
Cheesiness: 1/10
Crappiness: 0/10
Overall: 9/10
Definitely not for everyone, mostly for genre-fans and cultist movie-goers. If you like psychotically bizarre and frightful films, then you will likely enjoy this, for instance, if you like the following: Naked Lunch, Lost Highway, In The Mouth Of Madness, Jacob’s Ladder, Videodrome, Blue Velvet, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Evil Dead, Gozu (Japanese), Audition (Japanese), or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, then you may want to seek this one out.
1977
B&W
Columbia Pictures
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Directed by: David Lynch
USA
As with any fan of horror or cult films, I have an interest in extremely bizarre cinema as well. And, as many of us undergrounders know, one doesn’t get much more bizarre than David Cronenberg or David Lynch. So, after viewing Lynch’s “Lost Highway” and “Blue Velvet” it became a goal of sorts for me to locate and view “Eraserhead,” generally considered his first feature-length motion picture.
Firstly, you really have to like this kind of off-the-wall strange kind of shit to appreciate a film like this. The story revolves around Henry (Eraserhead, we can assume), his girlfriend/wife, their baby and his life in what would appear to be some sort of ghetto apartment building. Really, what we have here is a lunatic montage of images and scenes that do a wonderful job of twisting viewers’ faces into various shocked grimaces and exasperations. It’s a beautiful cinematic piece just to watch, even without trying to figure out what the hell is happening. The imagery is eye-catching, shocking, and insane—and despite the relatively slow pace of the film, it does a fantastic job of holding attention through the unusual visuals. Here’s the standard breakdown:
The Good:
--The cinematography is outstanding, as is the atmosphere and sound.
--It has a feeling of a film from the 40’s or 50’s because of the extremely dark style of black and white photography, and the film grain (keep in mind that some of this grain could be related to the old video on which I viewed this psychotic montage).
--Excellent lighting.
--Lynch’s direction, of course, perfectly holds the insanity together.
--The special effects and shock value of the film still holds up extremely well, even after nearly 30 years.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help It:
--The acting is pretty good.
The Bad:
--The style of the film and its lunatic-artsy style will be a turn-off for a lot of people, as will the extremely dark atmosphere and slow pace. But those are also the qualities that would be appreciated by fans of this kind of film, so there’s kind of a catch-22 here.
The Ugly:
--Seeing the baby all sick and covered with sores.
Memorable Scene:
--Too many to mention, but I’m going to go with a scene near the beginning when Henry has dinner with his girlfriend’s family and he is asked to carve up the chickens.
Acting: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Cinematography: 10/10
Character Development: 7/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 2/10
Violence/Gore: 6/10 (there wasn’t much, but it was good)
Music: 9/10
Direction: 9/10
Cheesiness: 1/10
Crappiness: 0/10
Overall: 9/10
Definitely not for everyone, mostly for genre-fans and cultist movie-goers. If you like psychotically bizarre and frightful films, then you will likely enjoy this, for instance, if you like the following: Naked Lunch, Lost Highway, In The Mouth Of Madness, Jacob’s Ladder, Videodrome, Blue Velvet, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Evil Dead, Gozu (Japanese), Audition (Japanese), or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, then you may want to seek this one out.
