Eraserhead

                                                         

I wrote about this film last year for Biff Bam Pop! The Canadian Pop Culture site where I am a senior writer, but  I've also decided to share this post on my blog. Enjoy 

I love horror films, but there are a few that have worked their way into the recesses of my mind and made a permanent home for themselves. One such film was Eraserhead, a 1977 black and white film which went past the definition of surreal. Eraserhead was written, produced and directed by filmmaker David Lynch, who would later go on to direct such movies as The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive and the television series, "Twin Peaks". 

This dark and brooding film may have been inspired by Lynch’s fear of fatherhood, his daughter’s extensive surgery for her severely clubbed feet and his five years of living in a troubled neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Hmmm…thought provoking since I was born and raised in Philadelphia and I love horror stories.

The filming of Eraserhead began in 1971, but because of Lynch’s meticulous direction, this film remained in production for a number of years and was kept alive not only by regular donations from Lynch’s childhood friend, Jack Fisk and Fisk’s wife Sissy Spacek, but by investments made by cast members. 

The Cast

Jack Nance played Henry Spencer in Eraserhead, Mary X was played by Charlotte Stewart, Mary’s mother was played by Jeanne Bates, her father played by Allen Joseph, the beautiful neighbor across the hall was played by Judith Anna Roberts, Jack Fisk plays the part of The Man in the Planet and The Lady in the Radiator is played by Laurel Near.

I’ll try to explain the plot from my point of view because anyone watching this film will eventually walk away with their own concept of what this movie is revealing. The movie starts with the man inside the floating planet pulling and pushing gears, while creatures resembling sperm swim in the background. Meet me after the jump.

The Plot

We see Henry as he makes his way through an Industrial cityscape. The scene is dark, noisy, threatening and sets the mood for the entire film. When Henry reaches his apartment, his beautiful neighbor tells him that his girlfriend left a message for him to come to her house for dinner.

 Now I have to pause here to mention Henry’s hair. He reminds me of a well-known character from the Seinfeld Show. What do you think?

                                                                        

Henry arrives at Mary’s house and meets her family, who are not your classic Norman Rockwell family…no, they’re more like the Addams family, very strange. The family behaves in a lifeless manner bordering on robotic at times. The father asks Henry to carve the roasted chicken that is placed on the table, but the chicken begins to move as Henry cuts into the meat. Reminds me of my first Thanksgiving dinner, the turkey was a little underdone, but luckily no one got sick. Henry learns that Mary had his child and now he is forced to take her and the baby back to his dirty and dark apartment. But there is something very wrong with it.

The Baby

Something is very wrong with the child and Henry is not happy with either Mary or the deformed baby. The baby has a snakelike head and all it does is cry. It refuses to eat which upsets Mary. 

                                              

 

Henry on the other hand is distracted by the need to have an affair with his beautiful neighbor and by his visions of The Lady in the Radiator.

Henry does have a sexual encounter with the neighbor, but the baby frightens her during her visit. Mary runs away and Henry must care for the child. At this point Henry has a dream that his head falls off and a young boy finds the head and brings it to the factory where they use parts of the brain to make erasers for pencils.

                                                                   

Henry unable to stop the child from crying takes a pair of scissors and cuts open it swaddling cloth. I won’t describe what is inside; you’ll need to see the film. Henry stabs the child and as the child dies and its head begins to grow until it turns into the planet seen at the beginning of the film. The Man in the Planet struggles to work his levers as the planet bursts apart. The show ends with Henry being embraced by the Lady in the Radiator.

                                                                      

My Thoughts

This film had a surrealist and sexual theme and spoke to me about the ills experienced in an Industrial Society. Did this inspire David Lynch’s making of Eraserhead? Can Industrial wastes cause deformities? Philadelphia is a beautiful city, but it was also home to a lot of industry. Silent Spring the book by Rachael Carson was published in 1962 and told of the health concerns encountered when Industries polluted the world.