Night 31: ‘Eraserhead’ (1977)

This is part of the ‘31 Nights of Horror Classics’ series, which I’ll be doing for Halloween 2017. Every night of this month, I’ll be watching a horror film made before the 90s and I’ll be posting a short review here.

Henry (Jack Nance) discovers that his girlfriend has given birth to a mutant baby. He is prompted to marry and move in with her, but she can hardly stand the incessant wailing of the ‘child’, and soon goes back to her parents, leaving them on their own. Thus, Henry begins to have nightmarish visions as he tries to care for the baby and remain sane in the process.

Well, here it is, folks! The last of the 31 horror classics I watched for this year’s Halloween!

Unfortunately, Eraserhead did put a little of a sour note to the ending of this little project. But before getting into that, let me begin by talking about what I really liked about the film, and that was its masterful construction.

In spite of the ugly situations it presents, the movie has some really great moments with many ‘beautiful’ and haunting images. It’s undoubtedly creepy thanks to a great use of light, framing and even some harrowing visual effects. It’s successfully scary and even revolting at times, in a way that reminded me a little of Polanski’s Repulsion (1965).

It’s also an effective and disturbing allegory about the oddness of sexuality, parenthood and the cold industrial world. Nothing is spelled out for you, so you might get a different meaning according to your personal baggage and references.

However, its non-linear narrative makes it hard to engage with the situation. Let me clarify by saying that a movie doesn’t have to depend solely on a linear narrative to work. But in the case of Eraserhead it ends up feeling more like a collection of weird and shocking moments, than a story that you can follow and sympathize with.

The core of the characters is so deeply buried underneath the eerie pictures that we never get to really know them. Even Henry, whose mind is more exposed to us and seems to define what we are watching, is a complete mystery.

This has always been my problem with more artsy films. I can appreciate the construction and the style, but as someone who gravitates towards story and characters I tend to feel severely alienated –which might be the point… but it doesn’t make it any more enjoyable.

Given the overall positive critical reception the movie has, I guess it’s a little sacrilegious to say I didn’t really adore it as I expected to. I appreciated it, for sure, but it’s ultimately not my type of narrative.

Still, if you want to get creeped out and are into the more visual aspects of filmmaking, you should probably watch Eraserhead. Different movies work for different people, and this one might be it for you.

Grade: 6/10.

Scare Factor: creepy images.

Gore/Violence: a little bit of both.

Nudity/Sexual Situations: nothing too graphic.

Previous Night: ‘Freaks’ (‘32)

So that’s it, folks!

Thank you for reading my short reviews during these 31 Nights of Horror Classics. I’ll probably make a masterpost with the full list of films in case you want to watch them.

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween!