A long-running cult film, one that packed theaters at midnight for decades, has been given the DVD treatment and it's once again provoking speculation and a few shudders from those who view it anew.  But what's it all about?  Is it a horror film?  What does it mean?  Come with us as we attempt to find amongst all the soot and symbolism...

By JEFF BERES

(Note: Here we are happy to welcome back a HORROR-WOOD contributor from the old days--Jeff Beres. Jeff is an award-winning screenwriter working on his 13th screenplay. He lives in Trans...er, Pennsylvania and is very proud to share his Hungarian heritage with Bela Lugosi, Martin Landau, and Billy Wilder.)

Where to start… where to start. I’ve been watching Eraserhead for about fifteen years now. Not continuously, mind you, just occasionally. In fact, I got in the habit of watching it every year on my birthday until the local Movies Unlimited pulled up it’s roots and returned to Philadelphia.

So I’m very familiar with the film. But familiar doesn’t mean I understand it. But not understanding it doesn’t stop me from having a theory.

David Lynch recently released a remastered version of the film to members of his Web site. I joined the site the first week it premiered in hopes of getting the Eraserhead DVD. Well, two years and $280 later (the membership costs $9.97 per month) I got the DVD. Not that I’m complaining. It was well worth the wait. And I’ve enjoyed other works on the web site.

The new transfer of the movie (called Eraserhead 2000 on the DVD box) is pristine. Amazing for a film shot on 16 MM. And there’s a feature length documentary (well, it’s Lynch reminiscing to the camera) and even an Easter Egg. The interview alone is well worth the cost of the DVD to a die hard Lynch fan like myself.

This is a very non-narrative film, so I’ll keep this brief. The hero, Henry, floats in space in front of a moon like sphere. A sperm like creature appears superimposed over Henry. A Burnt Man in a dilapidated building twitches, then pulls a lever. The sperm creature comes out of Henry’s mouth and lands in a puddle.

Next, we pick up Henry on his way home from the store, I guess. As he enters his apartment, his neighbor, a beautiful, sexy, tired looking woman, tells him a girl named Mary left a message for Henry. He’s invited to dinner at Mary’s parents’ house. Henry thanks her, although he looks terrified, and goes into his apartment.

Henry goes to dinner, meets Mary’s parents, and discovers Mary had a baby and it’s Henry’s. Henry and Mary marry off screen.

Mary has moved in with Henry. We next see her feeding The Baby, which looks like a miniature E.T. Tired and disgruntled, Mary leaves Henry to go home to her Mother just till she gets a good night sleep. Henry tells her not to come back.

One night, the Woman Across the Hall knocks on Henry’s door. She locked herself out of her apartment. "And it’s so late." Henry invites her in and they have sex. The woman tries to see the Baby but Henry distracts her.

The next day, Henry sees the Woman Across the Hall take a man into her apartment, obviously for sex. Henry seems greatly disappointed.

Henry keeps finding worm-like creatures. One he seems to tend to in his pocket, he keeps another one in a jewelry box, and one appears in his mailbox in the lobby. They seem important to him.

Frustrated by being trapped in his apartment by the baby’s needs, Henry cuts the bandages wrapped around the baby’s torso. The baby’s guts tumble out. Still not satisfied, Henry pokes the scissors blade into what looks like the Baby’s heart.

Henry then hallucinates that he enters the world behind his radiator where a blond woman with big cheeks dances clumsily on a stage. Henry watches her from a box seat, then his head falls off; actually it’s pushed off by a large penis protruding from his neck.

Henry’s head tumbles onto a street. A young boy picks up the head and takes it to a pencil factory where it’s used to make erasers. Henry then embraces the Woman in the Radiator in a strange light of ecstasy.

In the DVD interview with Lynch, he says no one has interpreted the film the way he does. Well here’s my take on it. Remember The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman? Remember when he graduates and his folks throw a party for him and his uncle takes him aside and says he has one word for him? Plastics? Well I think Eraserhead can be summed up with one word: sperm. It’s all about the male human being’s constant search to find a receptacle for his jism.

Henry tries every which way to deal with his body’s constant creation of the sticky stuff. In the opening scene, we see images that may represent Henry’s impregnating Mary. The result is the Baby monster and a less than pleasant existence as a father. Next, Henry tries an affair with the sexy woman across the hall. The sex is great, but he doesn’t like sharing her with other men.

Finally, Henry tries masturbation, which is represented by the Woman in the Radiator, who appears to be Henry’s Ideal Woman. While she dances and sings on the stage in the radiator, little sperm-like creatures drop onto the stage and she obligingly squashes them.

When the big penis pushes Henry’s head off, this could represent Henry’s sex drive dominating his thoughts. His visions of ecstasy show he’s happiest with his perfect, though imaginary, Lady in the Radiator.

Okay, it’s weird, but is it horror? To answer this question, let’s look up horror in the dictionary. Here’s the definition from Webster’s online Dictionary"

Hor·ror. Pronunciation: 'hor-&r, 'här-
Function: noun.
Etymology: Middle English horrour, from Middle French horror, from Latin, action of bristling, from horrEre to bristle, shiver; akin to Sanskrit harsate he is excited.
Date: 14th century.
1.a.: painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay b.: intense aversion or repugnance.
2.a.: the quality of inspiring horror : repulsive, horrible, or dismal quality or character b.: something that inspires horror.
3. plural: a state of extreme depression or apprehension.

Now, let’s see if these descriptions fit Eraserhead. "Painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay." Sounds like Henry’s dinner with Mary’s folks. After struggling to speak intelligently at dinner, Mary’s Mother takes him aside, tells him he’s sired a baby and that he is in very big trouble. Then she tries to seduce him. Henry becomes so distraught, his nose bleeds.

"Intense aversion or repugnance." This sounds like his reaction to taking care of a newborn and to child rearing in general. Disemboweling one’s offspring isn’t the usual parental response to a baby’s crying.

"Repulsive, horrible, or dismal quality or character." One thing Henry’s world is is dismal, with a capital D.

So Eraserhead definitely falls with the technical definition of horror.

Well, whatever the theme of Eraserhead, it’s one weird mama jama movie with it’s own consistent inner logic. That’s what makes it a great film. Films that follow an outer logic are more likely to leave plot holes cause we have time to think about them and figure out where the writer screwed up. But inner logic films like this one, although harder to make, are more satisfying.

Lynch has noted in interviews that his creative process includes getting an idea then being true to that idea till the end. Few directors can, or even try, to pull that off. Guy Maddin and the Brothers Quay come to mind .But when an inner logic film works, it’s an extremely enjoyable experience.

Maybe I figured out Eraserhead and maybe not. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll watch it again.

Thanks,. Jeff, and, again, welcome back!  Old Renfield has watched Eraserhead more times than he's willing to admit and he still doesn't get it.  So it's definitely not aimed at loonies!   Even though it's about as accessible as the mountains of Mars, this film can still stir a very creepy feeling in those who watch it...and even a sense of deja vu in some scenes...and maybe that's what Lynch intended all along.    

Article copyright © Jeff Beres

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