Review of Eraserhead (1977) by Andrew H — 21 Mar 2016

For those who; "crave the usual sort of stimulation, from the usual sort of film", this film is not for you. They do say, though, that it is good to free the mind from stimulation, by pursuing a tolerance to boredom. There is definitely an element of boredom, created by the watching of this film. That boredom just seems to add to the utter horror, such that it becomes that rarest of occasions, when boredom seems to have been a positive experience.

I agree that watching this film can seem worse than "having your teeth pulled out"; this is how some people have described the film. I certainly don't enjoy having my teeth pulled out, yet the truly disturbing nature of this film, is not unlike having your teeth pulled out. Some subtle, subconscious identification of oneself, within the horror of this film, seems to be at work. The conscious repulsion to the film is then completely at odds with the subconscious, and this seems to be the root of why this is the most terrifying film that I've ever seen. Surely we watch films hoping they will have an effect on us. I almost thought I might lose my own sanity while watching this film; some may say I lost it years ago.