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"So, psychotics are scary. And depicting believable psychotics on the screen is a Lynch forte..."
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David Lynch's films aren't everyone's cup of tea, but if a horror fan is looking for a scare that doesn't come from special effects or makeup, they might just explore...
The name David Lynch is more synonymous with weirdness than with horror, but his ventures into the realm of horror are so fascinating, however, that they’re worthy of discussion. Lynch’s feature filmography as a writer/director is brief: 1. Eraserhead (1977) Each film depends heavily on short but important scenes that transcend drama or melodrama and enter the horror genre. For the sake of brevity, we’ll focus on two Lynch films: Blue Velvet and Lost Highway.
First, let’s define our terms. What is horror? The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines "horror" as: Main Entry: 1 hor·ror
I saw The Exorcist when I was in college. I was pretty religious at the time. I had read the newspaper articles about the trouble the Production Company had making the film, including the death of the actor, Jack MacGowran, who played the director Burke Dennings in the film. I was sure the demon Pazuzu caused these problems. Now that I’m a bit older and have dropped all religious aspirations, I find the film technically brilliant, but less frightening because I don’t believe in demons anymore. I do, however, believe in psychotics. A few years ago, the daughter of a co-worker was abducted at a 7-11 near our house, forced into her own trunk, driven to another state, raped, beaten, and buried alive. Her body was found a few days later. The fact that something like that happened so close to home instills "a state of extreme depression or apprehension" in me. So let’s addend the above definition by saying the more believable a situation is, the more horrific. So, psychotics are scary. And depicting believable psychotics on the screen is a Lynch forte. Which brings us to the closest thing to an out and out horror film Lynch has produced: Blue Velvet.
The villain in Blue Velvet, Frank Booth, is evil personified. Danny Peary in the great book Cult Movies 3, believes Frank’s character, played by Dennis Hopper, is more insect than human, with no redeeming human qualities. We see his depravity in his first scene where he sadistically rapes and humiliates Dorothy Valens (Isabella Rossalini). Frank has Dorothy’s son and husband held captive and will kill them if Dorothy doesn’t bend to Frank’s perverted sexual demands. In the film’s climax, Frank makes good on his threat, executing Dorothy’s husband and the Yellow Man (Fred Pickler) offscreen. The scene of Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle McClachlan) discovering the bodies is the most frightening scene in all of Lynch’s work, and one of the most nightmarish ever filmed. As Jeffrey enters the scene of the execution (Dorothy’s apartment), he hears a buzzing sound from a broken lamp, a sound which eerily persists throughout the scene. The Yellow Man, a corrupt detective in a yellow sports jacket, stands next to the lamp. He’s been shot in the head. A portion of his skull is missing and his face and jacket are blood drenched. But he’s still standing. Dorothy’s husband Don (Dick Green), is bound and executed also. He’s gagged with a strip of blue velvet from Dorothy’s robe. This scene still reminds me of vague nightmares I used to have as a child. I remember hearing about people still standing up after they died when I was a kid. Maybe Lynch had the same nightmares. Even the shot of Dorothy’s billowing maroon curtain is reminiscent of my nightmares. But the standing corpse is the kicker. Is this possible? Can a person remain standing after death?
I did a little research and found a condition called "cadaveric spasm" which can occur if the person’s death is violent and instantaneous. The muscles "freeze" in position at the moment of death. An example was used of a female suicide that still held tightly to the gun she used to kill herself. So a standing corpse is possible. And incredibly eerie. The corpse later lashes out at Jeffrey (a death spasm perhaps?) The fact that it can happen makes it that much scarier. Lynch mentioned in a Rolling Stone interview many years ago that contrasts are very important to him. The contrast of the protagonist and the villain in Blue Velvet is evident. Jeffrey Beaumont is a "good boy," even though he’s exploring his darker side. Like he tells Sandy at the diner, no one would suspect two nice kids like them breaking into Dorothy’s apartment.
But in Lost Highway, Lynch brings the hero and the villain together into one character. Fred Madison (Bill Pullman,) is a jazz musician living in L.A. with his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette.) Renee finds two videotapes on their doorstep. The second video is a tape of Fred and Renee sleeping. Someone had to break into their home to make the tape. They call the police, who are little help. Later, Fred has a psychotic episode and wakes to a punch by the cop who was at his house earlier. Fred has apparently killed Renee. In this case, the hero is the villain. And the audience becomes privy to his psychosis.
One of our greatest fears, despite what Seinfeld says, is the fear of going crazy. Lynch never backs down from this premise of hero as psycho; in fact, the film gets even weirder, taking us on a ride with Fred down the Lost Highway of insanity. Fred physically changes into another person, Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty,) but fragments of his previous identity haunt him. Even his dead wife reappears as Alice Wakefield (Arquette again,) who, this time around, is a mobster’s wife. The mobster, Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia) is the pseudo villain, and the White-Faced-Guy-With-Big-Ears (Robert Blake) plays a character that may be Fred’s alter ego, Death or Psychosis Personified, or whatever you want him to be. But the real villain here is mental illness. A very real danger in our lives.
Again, this real possibility of someone going insane is what jacks this premise up into the realm of horror. Pete/Fred never does get caught. He continues down the Mobius strip Lost Highway in his mind, something we’re all afraid of. I thought I would grow out of horror films as I got older. Apparently, I haven’t. I’ve moved to the adult phase of horror, the horror of reality. I just hope David Lynch keeps making movies and sharing his fears with us. It’s comforting to know we’re not alone out here.
Thanks, Jeff, and welcome back! It seems that David Lynch is a master of revealing the true horror of horrors--that, oftentimes, the Monster is us! Cheers! Article copyright Jeff Beres. Visit his website. |
