Eraserhead (1977)
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A man in a desolate industrial landscape is left to care for a grossly deformed child.
The story
In a bleak, industrial cityscape, a man named Henry Spencer lives a secluded life. After a series of unsettling encounters and a forced commitment to a woman named Mary, Henry finds himself caring for a swaddled infant with an inhuman face. The child's constant, agonizing cries drive the environment into a state of distress. As Henry struggles to cope with the child's physical ailments and the haunting atmosphere of their surroundings, he begins to experience surreal visions and auditory hallucinations, leading to a breakdown of the boundary between his reality and a nightmare world.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film opens with a surreal vision of a sperm-like creature. In a decaying industrial landscape, Henry Spencer meets a woman who informs him of his impending marriage to Mary. After a bizarre dinner where a bird bleeds and a woman tries to kiss him, Henry and Mary move into his apartment with their infant. The child is a deformed, swaddled bundle that cries incessantly. The sound drives Mary away, leaving Henry alone with the child, who develops sores. Henry experiences visions of a woman in his radiator and a man in a planet. Following a sexual encounter with a neighbor, he has a vision where his head is replaced by the baby's crying head. He eventually removes the child's bandages, revealing it has no skin and its organs are held together by the cloth. He stabs the organs with scissors, causing them to spill out. The room's lights flicker as the child grows to massive proportions. Finally, the child's head is replaced by the planet from the opening, and Henry is embraced by the lady in the radiator in a white void.
- First release year
- 1977
- Runtime (minutes)
- 89
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Lynch
- Writers
- David Lynch · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jack Nance · Henry Spencer; Charlotte Stewart; Allen Joseph; Jeanne Bates; Judith Roberts; Laurel Near; Jack Fisk
- Genres
- horror; avant-garde; experimental; body horror
- Themes
- fear of parenthood; sexual undercurrents; surrealism
- Tone and mood
- threatening; unnerving; nightmare
- Premise and plot tags
- body horror; dream; nightmare
- Reception
- The film received widespread acclaim from critics and is considered a cult film and a cornerstone of independent cinema. It is noted for its surrealist imagery, intricate sound design, and its role in the midnight movie tradition.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 87% · scale: percentage · review count: 86; Metacritic · score: 87 · scale: 100 · review count: 15
- Awards and nominations
- National Film Registry · preservation · 2004 · selected
- Production trivia
- The prop for the deformed child was kept secret and even the projectionist was blindfolded.; The film was influenced by Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Gogol's The Nose.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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