Eraserhead
A hapless factory worker’s unwanted fatherhood becomes an industrial nightmare of malformed flesh, domestic entrapment, and surreal dread.
Overview
A surreal journey into the depths of parental anxiety and existential dread.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Mild
- nightmarish
- claustrophobic
- brooding
- late night cinephile viewing
- surreal horror marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a radically original and meticulously crafted surrealist horror work whose detailed visuals and creepy sound design create a uniquely disturbing experience.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film surrounds Henry with stark machinery, cramped interiors, smoke, and grotesquely transformed organic matter.
Events unfold through opaque transitions, impossible spaces, and symbolic encounters rather than conventional explanatory plotting.
Henry's forced caretaking of a hideously deformed infant turns domestic responsibility into an intensely physical nightmare.
Henry and Mary X are confined by the crying child, unhappy cohabitation, and hostile parental surroundings.
Films like Eraserhead, and why
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
surrealist horror, psychologically unstable realities, and oppressive industrial atmosphere
The Fly
body horror, nightmarish imagery, and anxiety surrounding transformation and parenthood
Possession
experimental psychological horror, disturbing domestic spaces, and ambiguous dream logic
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
surreal imagery, uncanny sound design, and existential dread rooted in ordinary life
Movie Details
- Director
- David Lynch
- Release Date
- 1977-09-28
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Rating
- 7.3 / 10 (2848)
Cast
- Jack Nance
- Charlotte Stewart
- Allen Joseph
- Jeanne Bates
- Judith Roberts
- Laurel Near
- Jack Fisk
- Jean Lange
- Thomas Coulson
- John Monez
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Eraserhead about?
- A hapless factory worker’s unwanted fatherhood becomes an industrial nightmare of malformed flesh, domestic entrapment, and surreal dread.
- What is Eraserhead like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Eraserhead as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is Eraserhead violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Eraserhead as mild.
- What did critics think of Eraserhead?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a radically original and meticulously crafted surrealist horror work whose detailed visuals and creepy sound design create a uniquely disturbing experience.
- Which films are like Eraserhead?
- Films with a similar feel include The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Fly, Possession, and Tetsuo: The Iron Man.
- How long is Eraserhead?
- Eraserhead runs 89 minutes.
- Where can I watch Eraserhead?
- In United States, Eraserhead streams on fuboTV, HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.
