Why David Cronenberg Calls David Lynch’s ‘Eraserhead’ One of the Most American Films Ever
Lynch’s 1977 directorial debut was a scary, but inspiring feature for Cronenberg and a bunch of other prominent directors.
Despite not having directed a single movie in recent decades, David Lynch silently remained one of the industry’s most significant figures, with lots of biggest filmmakers of modernity paying their tributes to the legendary director after his sudden death this January.
A true master of mystery drama that helmed forever classics like Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks, Lynch was also someone to look up to for his fellow directors that were developing the genre at the same time as Lynch himself.
Particularly, David Cronenberg, who is also considered a master of horror-ish stories with much more profound meaning underneath the jump-scares, cited Lynch’s first ever movie as one of his favorites and a great exploration of American culture.
David Cronenberg Says David Lynch’s ‘Eraserhead’ Was a “Special Film” For Him Personally
Known for cult classic body horrors like 1975’s Shivers and 1983’s Videodrome, Cronenberg didn’t start his career off after gaining interest in the same genre that Lynch was developing.
The two were working on their project at around the same time, which also allowed Cronenberg to explore Lynch’s personal approach to genres like mystery drama and horror.
Unlike many others who claim Blue Velvet or Mulholland Drive as their personal favorites in Lynch’s filmography, Cronenberg feels like 1977’s Eraserhead was the most influential thing that Lynch has ever done.
“A film I could relate to more in terms of my own filmmaking was David Lynch’s film, Eraserhead. Very American and saying some really interesting, kind of sublime things about American culture and the American ethos and zeitgeist that you wouldn’t see in a Hollywood film, but you also wouldn’t see in a European film”, Cronenberg once revealed to The Criterion Collection.
He also added that, despite Eraserhead being a big movie for him, it wasn’t the one to raise his interest in the body horror genre.
“This is a really special film that had a big impact on me. I can't say it was an influence because I had already been making films by this time, but it was significant for me”, the director said.
Instead, ‘Eraserhead’ Inspired Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’
Even though Lynch’s movie arrived way too late to inspire David Cronenberg for something bigger, it still was on time for Stanley Kubrick who once revealed that Eraserhead was taking the top spot on his personal list of favorite movies.
More than that, Kubrick went on to show Eraserhead to the production team that was working on his The Shining, aiming at helping them grasp the idea of what tone he wanted his future movie to have.
