History Film / Eraserhead

* Butterface: The lady in the radiator is quite beautiful looking... but has strangely bloated cheeks with blemishes that resemble a skin infection.

The film is [[LeaveTheCameraRunning slow-paced]], [[SilenceIsGolden almost completely void of dialogue]] (there isn’t any until 10 minutes in), and can safely be called the most popular student art film ever made. It was also the product of a considerable TroubledProduction despite being produced with the assistance of the school Lynch was attending at the time (the American Film Institute); at one point, the production was kept afloat exclusively by donations from actor Jack Fisk and his wife Creator/SissySpacek.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] and [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in the case of the Baby. [[spoiler:Despite their love for each other, Henry and Mary were certainly not expecting a baby, and they are forced to become a family due to the birth of said baby. Eventually, Mary gets fed up with the Baby's crying and leaves Henry alone with the Baby.]]

** The baby looks like a deformed dinosaur head and it later turns out that [[spoiler: the rest of its body is just a bunch of organs, with the gauze wrapped around its body to keep it together.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler:[[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], while Mary eventually leaves, Henry sticks around to take care of the Baby, at least until he decides to kill the Baby.]]

* AlienLunch: For dinner, Mary and her family prepare a batch of roasted chickens, which are noted by Bill to be man-made and unusually small. When Henry tries cutting one open, his chicken starts moving and bleeding out. Needless to say, the roasted chickens are left uneaten.

* TitleDrop: Somewhat: "His head... Has some erasable qualities..."

* SexIsEvil: In real life parents already have a good chance of producing mentally and physically deformed children, and this is a fear of many expectant parents. In Henry's world, however, this tends to go [[UpToEleven off the deep end]].

Henry Spencer was on vacation. Mary X, his old girlfriend, [[AdultFear had a deformed baby]]. "They're still not sure if it ''is'' a baby." She gave it to him and left. He had difficulty raising it.

* AdultFear:
** If giving birth to a creature so horrible that no sentient being would want to touch it with a 10-foot pole isn't every soon-to-be parent's worst nightmare, then the fact that it makes your spouse leave you and force you to raise it by yourself certainly is. Loathing one's own baby to the point that [[spoiler:stabbing it through the lung (if you can even define it as a "lung") with scissors]] becomes a viable option is something no adult wishes to experience. Oh, and the fact that everything else in this movie is filled to the brim with the regular kinds of fears doesn't exactly help.
** Getting married too young. It's obvious Henry has a very unhappy marriage, and [[BabiesMakeEverythingBetter having a child doesn't help]].
** Your baby getting sick and having no experience with helping them is one of the most nerve-wracking of situations for young couples.
** One interpretation of the Baby is that it's a metaphor for having one born too prematurely.

* SurrealSymbolicHeads: Heads are the {{Body Motif|s}} of the film. The Baby is deformed and resembles a chicken, and Henry grows one himself in a DreamSequence.

''Eraserhead'' is [[LeaveTheCameraRunning slow-paced]], [[SilenceIsGolden almost completely void of dialogue]] (there isn’t any until 10 minutes in), and can safely be called the most popular student art film ever made. It was also the product of a considerable TroubledProduction despite being produced with the assistance of the school Lynch was attending at the time (the American Film Institute); at one point, the production was kept afloat exclusively by donations from actor Jack Fisk and his wife Creator/SissySpacek.

A 1977 SurrealHorror film by Creator/DavidLynch. The film is notable for being Lynch's feature-length film debut, and in his own words ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjoMEw2RYlA&ab_channel=ALonelyWeeaboo and]] [[ShrugOfGod very few at that]]), his "most spiritual film".

The film is slow-paced, almost completely void of dialogue (there isn’t any until 10 minutes in), and can safely be called the most popular student art film ever made. It is beautiful, terrifying, and uses hauntingly realistic effects.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] the Filipino rock band, Music/TheEraserheads, or the [[Manga/MyHeroAcademia codename of Pro Hero Shota Aizawa.]]

A 1977 SurrealHorror film by Creator/DavidLynch. The film is notable for being Lynch's feature-length film debut, and in his own words, his "most spiritual film".

The film is slow paced, almost completely void of dialogue (there isn’t any until 10 minutes in), and can safely be called the most popular student art film ever made. It is beautiful, terrifying, and uses hauntingly realistic effects.

A 1977 SurrealHorror film by Creator/DavidLynch. The film is notable for being Lynch's feature-length film debut.

The film is slow paced, almost completely void of dialogue(there isn’t any until 10 minutes in), and can safely be called the most popular student art film ever made. It is beautiful, terrifying, and uses hauntingly realistic effects.

The film is slow paced, almost completely void of dialogue, and can safely be called the most popular student art film ever made. It is beautiful, terrifying, and uses hauntingly realistic effects.