Eraserhead

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Eraserhead

Released Mar 17, 1977

1h 29m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

66 Reviews

82%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Henry (John Nance) resides alone in a bleak apartment surrounded by industrial gloom. When he discovers that an earlier fling with Mary X (Charlotte Stewart) left her pregnant, he marries the expectant mother and has her move in with him. Things take a decidedly strange turn when the couple's baby turns out to be a bizarre lizard-like creature that won't stop wailing. Other characters, including a disfigured lady who lives inside a radiator, inhabit the building and add to Henry's troubles.

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Critics Consensus

David Lynch's surreal Eraserhead uses detailed visuals and a creepy score to create a bizarre and disturbing look into a man's fear of parenthood.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

It's beautiful and strange, with its profoundly disturbing ambient sound design of industrial groaning, as if filmed inside some collapsing factory or gigantic dying organism.

Rated: 5/5

Oct 14, 2014

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Michael Wilmington

Chicago Tribune

What makes Eraserhead great -- and still, perhaps the best of all Lynch's films? Intensity. Nightmare clarity. And perhaps also it's the single-mindedness of its vision.

Rated: 4/4

Oct 14, 2014

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Tom Buckley

New York Times

A murkily pretentious shocker.

Oct 14, 2014

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Sean Burns

Crooked Marquee

Basically, if you’ve ever had a panic attack worrying that you might have knocked up your girlfriend, this is the movie playing in your head.

Aug 4, 2023

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Richard Schertzer

ScreenAnarchy

All I know is that this film zig-zags through its story's trajectory and fails to make me look at it thinking that I have seen something that makes a modicum of sense.

Jun 16, 2023

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Joe Lipsett

Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network

Confronting and nightmarish in equal parts, David Lynch's infamous first feature is a surreal masterpiece. The imagery might be iconic, but its the omnipresent industrial score that sticks with you.

Apr 11, 2023

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Julian S

There’s an undeniable discomfort to this film, yet it contains engrossing moments that evoke both admiration and repulsion.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/03/24

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Jay W

The movie wastes no time in letting the audience know what they are getting into. They're about to watch a super weird and unorthodox movie. The first 10 minutes of the movie has no spoken words, consisting mostly of some surreal visuals. After a thoroughly strange and awkward dinner we find out that our main character, Henry Spencer, is a father to be. His girlfriend, Mary X, is pregnant and they are to be married. The story is then about the two of them trying to raise their...child? That sums up the part of the movie that follows any sort of cohesive narrative. The story is about them taking care of the kid. But the manner in which the movie tells this story, is hard to put into words. It is a movie you'd have to see to believe. I do not recommend watching the film to find out. It is a thoroughly unenjoyable movie. From the visuals to the audio, it is unpleasant to watch. There are stretches of the movie that made me feel physically sick as I watched it. In the same way I give a movie credit if it makes me cry, I take away credit if a movie makes me gag. I wish I could erase this film from my head.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/20/24

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Patrick L

The worst movie l have ever seen.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/12/24

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Audience Member

What the hell was that? I mean seriously

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/02/24

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Brian H

One of those movies that is objectively good, but I detested.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/29/24

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Audience Member

Oh my god. This was a Fever Nightmare man, I cannot believe how many times this movie genuinely shocked me. I imagine David Lynch wrote down everything that happened during a trip, and made a script out of it. I don't think I'll ever watch anything this genuinely insane again. This and "Meshes of the Afternoon" you should avoid when on drugs, that's how odd they both are. 5/5 stars YOU ALL NEED TO WATCH THIS.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/07/24

Full Review

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David Lynch

Director

Jack Nance

Henry Spencer

Charlotte Stewart

Mary X

Allen Joseph

Mr. X

Jeanne Bates

Mrs. X

Judith Roberts

Beautiful Girl Across the Hall

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Eraserhead: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Henry (John Nance) resides alone in a bleak apartment surrounded by industrial gloom. When he discovers that an earlier fling with Mary X (Charlotte Stewart) left her pregnant, he marries the expectant mother and has her move in with him. Things take a decidedly strange turn when the couple's baby turns out to be a bizarre lizard-like creature that won't stop wailing. Other characters, including a disfigured lady who lives inside a radiator, inhabit the building and add to Henry's troubles.

Director: David Lynch
Producer: David Lynch
Screenwriter: David Lynch
Production Co: American Film Institute
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 17, 1977, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 25, 2015
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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