Eraserhead

Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary Masterpiece
Review: See this movie. It is like nothing you have ever seen before. Eraserhead was the turning point for American avant-garde cinema, and although many have since copied it, their attempts turn out to be pretentious crap. Never has a filmmaker so perfectly captured feelings of anxiety as in Eraserhead. Chances are, if you haven't already heard of Eraserhead, you will hate it. David Lynch concocts a strange brew of fear, surrealism, existentialist depression, and a quirky sort of intelligent horror. Definitely in my list of top three favorite movies of all time. Hurry up with the DVD release. Eraserhead: Where your nightmares end...

Rating:
Summary: Eraserhead
Review: Okay, so if you've seen an actual print of this film, good for you. Until a DVD comes out we're stuck with (...) bootlegs and bad sound. To create some sort of median between the awful reviews and the great reviews I've given it an average review. While Lynch has recently created his masterpiece in Mulholland Drive, 'Eraserhead' is a prime example of the art of filmmaking. Though it's mostly slow Lynch managed to spend five years of his life to create an atmosphere through prodecution design and sound he had set up the tone for his futre works. So Eraserhead definitely stands out amongst other cult films it is not a masterpiece but does indeed give us a foreshadowing of Lynch as a filmmaker. Plus, it gives serious Lynch fans something to look for consdiering it's so hard to find.

Rating:
Summary: like a torture for the very first time ...
Review: come on, you 5-star-reviewers, remain on the carpet, as we say in germany ... this is not a masterpiece, but maybe a good joke of david l. watching this film is (to me) like going to the dentist for 2 hours or like having to eat huge portions of snot with vomitus at the restaurant.
there seem to be people who enjoy this kind of activities ... please, feel free and do not be offended.
when i saw it in the theater, most members of the audience where pale young people wearing dark clothes. i asked one (beautiful) young black dressed lady sitting next to me, how she liked the movie ... she simply answered: 'wonderful ...'.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Movies Ever
Review: David Lynch's ERASERHEAD is one of the best films ever made. In terms of artfulness, it rivals Kubrick (who once called this film his favorite), Fellini, Bergman, Bunuel, and Bresson. In fact, I think this film is to American cinema what Bunuel's L'AGE D'OR was to French cinema. Lynch may not have been the first American director to expand the cinematic vocabulary of the world, but no one has ever done it in quite the same way. Where most people associate Lynch with his later films, especially DUNE, BLUE VELVET, and his TV-series "Twin Peaks", I think I'll always love this one most. I won't reveal the plot; and don't be mistaken, there most definitely is a plot. But it would be futile to try and explain to you what happens. I just hope they release the damn DVD soon! I'm so tired of waiting. When it comes out, it'd better have extras, and lots of 'em (the deleted scenes would be nice, along with the original theatrical trailer and a nice thick booklet in which we are told, among other things, exactly why we've been deprived of this masterpiece for so many years). Until then, we Lynch fans will have to stand around and wait like a bunch of cattle. Hurry up, DVD-releasing-people! We're waiting! [Actually, I'm lucky; I have a copy, taken from a rental.]

Rating:
Summary: Attention all E-head fans!
Review: It appears that the wait won't be much longer. With "Mulholland Drive" arriving to fantastic reviews (and, yes, it was mind blowing and deeply disturbing, and very tragic), Lynch has gone interview-crazy of late and in an interview with the L.A. Weekly (free paper) he basically let it be know that he is working on the DVD versions of "Eraserhead" and "The Elephant Man." Of course, the man is a control freak (in the nicest of terms), and has had a staff of one (lucky) person working on digitally cleaning up the E-head and E-man prints... a frame at a time. He tells the interviewer that "Eraserhead will be the cleanest looking film, not a scratch or bit of dust." It seems they're removing motes from the very eye of the deformed baby itself! Well, suffice to say, the DVD will not have many extras (as the Japanese laserdisc (at least the VHS copies on eBay) has his short films: "The Alphabet," "The Grandmother," and "The Cowboy and the Frenchman") if any... Lynch isn't too keen on that aspect of DVD, and just wants to present the film as is (save for the dirt and scratches on the old prints). As I write this, and the article was only out about two weeks ago, it appears both DVD's may be released within a year... though, with Lynch you never know, but yes indeed! eventually we will have a DVD "Eraserhead" to enjoy (and I just got my Japanese laserdisc VHS copy!). Hopefully, this information is not erroneous, but since it comes straight from the mouth of the genius himself, I feel I can post this in confidence that a DVD release may be right around the corner. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Unique
Review: This film isn't just seen, it is experienced. I would not even attempt to describe the film. As in most cult films, either you will love it or absolutely loathe it.
There is so much symbolism in this film that it almost seems like a spoof on films dripping with symbolism. However, the life and death of Henry Spencer, played brilliantly by Jack Nance, seems too horrible and glum for this to be a spoof. I really can't describe it as a horror film although it has enough horror in it. Nor would I describe it as a comedy although it has its comedic elements especially the scene in which Henry meets his fiance's parents, the date from hell. Nor is it a mystery although I never really could get through all the symbolism to understand what the heck this film was trying to say.
I do hope this is issued in DVD. I think it can be favorably compared to 'The Cabinet of Dr Caligeri' as a positely unique and fascinating experience.
Oh, by the way, if you want the film soundtrack, try picking up Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite film
Review: I have yet to see a film that has captured my imagination the way that this one has. I won't bother going on and on about why that is.. chances are, you already know. I'm just writing this to say that i can't wait until this film is available on DVD. I've heard rumors that Lynch himself is doing the transfer, and that it will be available on his website when it finally goes live. I hope this is true, because my bootlegged vhs of this looks terrible.. i have yet to see this film with any clarity... i know that it should, ideally, be seen on the big screen.. but, i don't see it playing anywhere. So, to whoever can make this disc happen, we're waiting patiently..

Rating:
Summary: As darkness surrounds us...
Review: Eraserhead, David Lynch`s groundbreaking feature, is for many reasons considered a cult-classic. Both the story and style of the film share the traits which have made director Lynch a spokesman for the alternative and surreal in modern cinema.
The story surrounds around Henry(Jack Nance), and his immediate environment. Henry becomes romantically involved with a woman, and later finds himself facing the troubles of fatherhood. This storyline seems fairly ordinary and straight fotward. But anyone who has seen the film will agree that "ordinary" is a word not suited to describe the universe created by Lynch in Eraserhead.
Events take place which have no grasp in our "ordinary" world.
The very first minutes of the film show us what we can come to expect throughout the feature; a moonlike landscape is presented to us and shows us the residence of a man(?), whom by pulling a metall stick(controll-bar?) initiates a certain action. This character seems to be the instigator of the action which is to take place.
Similar events of the surreal take place and mix with the more "wordly" aspects of the film throughout the feature.

But trying to analyze and disect Eraserhead is in many ways a mission impossible. The film is more a mood than anything else, and a moode must be experienced rather than debated. There are in my view no words which adequitely can be used to describe the very mood which is Eraserhead. No words or terms can be applied with the aim of clarifying that which can not be and must not be made clear. Words are simply inadequate. The only way to get lost in the moode and experience of Eraserhead is to watch it.. and watch it again, and again, and again...

Rating:
Summary: Amazing on an extremely bad bootleg...just imagine the DVD!!
Review: Eraserhead...ahhhh..Now that's what I call a movie. Of course if you want explosions, babes and you like to turn your brain off when you watch a movie, this is not for you...Rent Armageddon or something like that. But if you like intelligent movies, something that'll make you think, then this is for you. David Lynch is a genius and this is one of his best films. One viewing is not enough to get this movie, you have to see it over and over again..And when you're not watching it, you'll still be thginking about it, trying to figure out what you just saw. Please Mr.Lynch, Let us have a great ERASERHEAD DVD SOON!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Three Important Lessons About Life
Review: When Eraserhead discovers that his girlfriend is pregnant, he does the "right thing": he marries her. Men often find themselves in deep trouble by doing the right thing, and Eraserhead is no exception. He and the little Misses move into a tiny flat and face all the common problems that newlyweds often encounter: a tight budget, lack of romance, and oh yea, a hairless rat attached to a bandaged potato. The Hairless Rat cries all night, and Mrs. Eraserhead, suffering from postpartum depression, returns to live with her parents.

Now Eraserhead is alone with the Hairless Rat and all the overbearing responsibilities of fatherhood. Actually, the Hairless Rat doesn't require a lot of care, so Eraserhead has time to seduce the woman living across the hall. Hey, men aren't perfect! Do you think that Eraserhead could simply put his sins behind, and raise the Hairless Rat into kindergarten? No way! He snips away at the potato's bandages, then punctures the Rat's internal organs spewing mashed potatoes all over the apartment.

One might assume that an adulterer and murderer would spend eternity in Hell, but considering that Eraserhead did the right thing initially, he finishes in Heaven with the Elephant Women.

I learned three important lessons about life from Eraserhead: there's little solace in doing the right thing, heaven isn't all that it's cracked up to be, and most importantly, always let someone else unwrap the baked potato.