Review of Eraserhead (1977) by Manicure — 22 Nov 2020

“Eraserhead” is one of those symbolic movies, more like a collection of unsettling moving paintings. It’s Lynch's only feature film to be old-school surrealist, though the way reality is distorted could be considered as expressionist.

There are sequences that could be interpreted in multiple ways, but the main plot is pretty straightforward. Not that the plot is the main focus here: most situations seem to be visually unsettling just for their own sake. The dark and eerie atmosphere that permeates the whole film is disturbing but at the same so fascinating that it gets addictive over time. You don't exactly know why, but you want to go back and rewatch it every now and then just to feel those weird sensations again, like a haunted house. Every shot has been meticulously constructed with the aim of deeply resonate with your subconscious and awaken feelings or sensations that are hard to express logically.

Sound plays a crucial role as well: there is no music at all, extremely limited and uncanny dialogues, but a lot of humming and wheezing mechanical noise which melds perfectly with the cold, hostile wastelands and bare, wretched houses and apartments.

That baby is probably one of the most disturbing I have seen in a movie. I still wonder how they managed to make something like that on their own.