Eraserhead Tagged Articles at Cinematical

(All this month we'll be bringing back some of our favorite Halloween-themed posts, as well as digging up some brand new stuff from beyond the grave. Enjoy!)

By: Monika Bartyzel

This was supposed to be a list of horror movies appropriate for dates. Unfortunately, I kept coming up with reasons why each movie wasn't a good idea. While my rationale wasn't entirely realistic, it got me thinking about movies that open certain cans of worms. Pregnancy. Momma's boys. Infidelity. These seven flicks have got lots of relationship deal-breakers in them, and can lead to some date-damaging conversation, rather than sexy innuendo and rose petals to the bedroom. They might uncover questionable morals, or even some private kink that you just can't get into. And some will get just a little spoilery, but most of them are classics, so you probably know the gist already.

Either way, you've been warned!


Eraserhead (1977)

Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) is just a simple, nervous printer who thinks his girlfriend, Mary (Charlotte Stewart), has broken up with him -- that is, until he is invited to dinner with her and her family. He finds out that she has had an amazingly brief pregnancy, and has given birth to some sort of strange alien baby. Being the noble boyfriend, he marries her, and is quickly left with this weird, wailing tot when she abandons them. Henry starts to become unhinged, and that just doesn't bode well for baby.

While this may be a short film, Eraserhead is packed full of taboo dating topics. Pregnancy. Marriage. Accepting abnormal babies. Ditching the family when sleep-deprived. Infanticide. One minute, you're watching an eerie David Lynch movie, and the next, you're having discussions about what you'd do with alien babies, whether you'd be noble and marry the mother of your out-of-wedlock kid. Or heck, whether love would keep you with her even if it looks like she got horizontal with some other strange sort of being.

This was supposed to be a list of horror movies appropriate for dates. Unfortunately, I kept coming up with reasons why each movie wasn't a good idea. While my rationale wasn't entirely realistic, it got me thinking about movies that open certain cans of worms. Pregnancy. Momma's boys. Infidelity. These seven flicks have got lots of relationship deal-breakers in them, and can lead to some date-damaging conversation, rather than sexy innuendo and rose petals to the bedroom. They might uncover questionable morals, or even some private kink that you just can't get into. And some will get just a little spoilery, but most of them are classics, so you probably know the gist already.

Either way, you've been warned!


Eraserhead (1977)

Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) is just a simple, nervous printer who thinks his girlfriend, Mary (Charlotte Stewart), has broken up with him -- that is, until he is invited to dinner with her and her family. He finds out that she has had an amazingly brief pregnancy, and has given birth to some sort of strange alien baby. Being the noble boyfriend, he marries her, and is quickly left with this weird, wailing tot when she abandons them. Henry starts to become unhinged, and that just doesn't bode well for baby.

While this may be a short film, Eraserhead is packed full of taboo dating topics. Pregnancy. Marriage. Accepting abnormal babies. Ditching the family when sleep-deprived. Infanticide. One minute, you're watching an eerie David Lynch movie, and the next, you're having discussions about what you'd do with alien babies, whether you'd be noble and marry the mother of your out-of-wedlock kid. Or heck, whether love would keep you with her even if it looks like she got horizontal with some other strange sort of being.

Beyond the toques, hockey, and those ever-rampant igloos, Canada houses a veritable smorgasbord of media talent. Unfortunately, much of it migrates to the States and becomes part of the "They're Canadian!?" contingent -- including game show host Alex Trebek, and actors from Michael J. Fox to Fay Wray. Heck, even Jack Warner, co-founder of Warner Brothers, was born in London, Ontario. Yet on the northern side of the 49th parallel, a lot of talent still thrives. This is the inaugural post of Northern Exposures, a monthly column that will highlight great Canadian films you should check out, and the wider-recognized work they are similar to.

Film: The Saddest Music in the World
Director: Guy Maddin
Year: 2003
Comparable to: David Lynch

The Saddest Music in the World might not be the most accessible film to throw at wide-release audiences, being a grainy, 8mm black and white film blown up for the big screen, but being the indie side of Cinematical, I can't help but start off with my favorite Canadian film. Before he wowed audiences with Brand Upon the Brain!, Guy Maddin concocted the movie he'd been waiting years to make – one with recognizable, real movie stars and a $3.5 million budget. While it sounds like dreary fare, Saddest Music is actually a quirky, almost fantastical satire about love, greed, pain, and the undeniable allure of show.

Are you obsessed with trying to figure out the manic mind of David Lynch? If you win this contest hosted by ThisNext, then the prizes will take you a long way down the road and hopefully help to unravel some of the pieces. A word of warning though, once you set foot on this trail you'll go insane trying, or you'll reach a whole other plane of existence. Or something. The key is just not to blame Cinematical in the process, because you're not supposed to shoot the messenger. Although, if the messenger was just pure evil, I guess that would be okay.

While Inland Empire itself is just now being rolled out in theaters (check here to see where it is near you), Lynch has been confounding minds and expanding horizons ever since Eraserhead back in 1977. You've probably seen Blue Velvet at some point, or heard people talk about Twin Peaks around the water cooler, back before TV shows like Lost filled the current need for enigma in our entertainment. So at the very least, you probably know he's one weird guy. If you want to know here's what you can win:

This week's prize, assembled by the dancing dwarf from Twin Peaks, contains:

• The first Inland Empire poster ever made available to the public
• A signed Eraserhead deluxe DVD.
• A Dumbland deluxe DVD: You've never seen cartoons quite like these.
• A David Lynch T-shirt.
• The Short Films of David Lynch: This DVD = weird x 6.

Sound good? Head over to ThisNext and follow these instructions.

How to Enter:
1. Go to ThisNext.com (comments left on this blog don't count as entries. You must recommend an item someone else can buy)!
2. Recommend things that help you express your creativity.
3. Tag your recommendations "creativity"
4. Multiple entries increase your chances of winning.

That's it. Get cracking and let us know what sort of maddening or enlightening information you're able to glean.