Rating:

Review

Poor fellow Henry Spencer has knocked up Mary X and her insane parents insist that he now has to do the right thing. The only problem is, the baby is a weird mutant sheep thing, incessantly crying and getting a disgustiing cough every ten seconds. Yech!! What’s a guy to do but escape into a fantasy world of, well, imaginary seed pod worms, gigantic sperm, and mash potato-cheeked singing whores? That’s what, I guess.

Reason to Watch

Eraserhead is another cult film right of passage. Before I saw this, I thought movies were movies and art was art, and never the twain shall meet. Eraserhead changed my perspective, all right.

Context

The late seventies is when the midnight movie came into being, and Eraserhead, along with El Topo, is the seminal midnight arthouse movie.

Most memorable quote(s)

• “It’s deformed, but it’s a baby.”
• “Do I just, uh, cut them up like regular chickens?”
• “Did you and Mary have sexual intercourse?”
• “In Heaven, evrything is fine.”
• “OKAY, PAUL!!!”
• “You ARE sick.”

What you need to get through this movie

Having watched this movie in virtually all forms of altered states of consciousness, I think this is going to be the rare CultFlicks movies where complete sobriety is acceptable. It’s weird enough to need all of your undivided attention.

Trivia

• The man who controls Henry Spencer’s brain later married Sissy Spacek.
• The baby was laid to rest in a mock funeral and bureid in an unknown location following the completetion of this film.
• The Pixies covered the song performed by the lady in the radiator.

Educational Content

1. There is no need for a condom because the lady in the radiator will step on and kill your sperm for you.
2. Babies are filled with mashed potatoes.
3. Your future mother-in-law is in love with you.

Justification for Rating

It only misses the full five because I can’t find the 108 minute version.

Clip

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrl3n2ZtK2E

Related posts:

1. Review of Creature from the Haunted Sea

The Giant Gila Monster

What sets this classic 50s Sci-Fi fiasco apart from other giant monster movies is its complete lack of respect for the laws of the giant monster movie. Rule 1: Giant Monsters come from a complete disregard for the laws of nature. This is where the moral of the story comes in – don’t pollute, clone, or mongrelize the races, or a 40-foot tall salamander will eat your family. This rule is broken by simply not explaining where the Gila Monster came from, what it wants, and how to reverse the science that created it. Rule 2: Keep the monster mysterious. Well, the opening scene shows the angry man in the lizard suit, so that’s right out. Rule 3: Get another monster to kill it. Our hero, Chase, kills the monster by driving a 50s hotrod stuffed with nitroglycerin into the beast – of course.

Clip

www.youtube.com/watch?v=siRaaXczANo

The Toxic Avenger II

Simply one of the greatest bad movies of all time! Troma outdid themselves with a 10-minute opening fight scene where the world’s greatest, hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength from New Jersey beats, blends, crushes, and rips apart a random assortment of stereotypes before traveling to Japan (by windsurfing) to find his dad. Toxie, as his friends call him, an ex-janitor, travels to Tokyo and learns the finer points of Japanese life and culture. He bathes in a traditional Japanese sento (bath house), eats shabu-shabu, and fights evil. I would strongly recommend drinking large quantities of sake and Drano® for this one.

Clip

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sbBFROaJ-k

Brain Damage

If you ever find yourself attached to a brain-eating worm that looks like a penis and enjoys bad jokes, then Brain Damage is perfect for you. Did I mention he injects LSD and happiness directly into your spinal column? Complete with violence, exploding heads, anonymous sex in back alleys, and something that was either another exploding head or a Buddha-style enlightenment moment. The shear simplicity of the plot (as far as LSD injecting, brain eating worm plots can be simple) will leave you feeling spiritually in touch… or possibly wanting to jab a cheese knife in your ear – one or the other.

Clip

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyXbjg1zdD4

Dead Alive

Possibly the bloodiest movie ever, this early Peter Jackson film is brilliant beyond your wildest dreams, especially if you only know him from those Lord of the Rings films. Look out for an especially disgusting scene that will change the way you look at custard forever, and the murder of hundreds of zombies with a gas-powered lawn mower. And a zombie pastor screwing a zombie nurse. And an partially-digested dog. And…

Clip

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxcyAkSQKZw

Forbidden Zone

This musical gem gets forgotten when compared to the slightly less awesome Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it’s worth seeking out. This movie absolutely has it all: drugs, alcohol, sex, tits, violence, love, jealousy, Satan, giant frogs, midgets, jock straps, blackface, stockings, blood, decapitations, chickens… Too bad it doesn’t get its just rewards as the greatest cult musical of all time!

Clip

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Uh-AFFDys

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1. The Definitive Top Ten Halloween Movies
2. 5 Movies Better Left as Video Games
3. Review of Blood Feast