Eraserhead

This debut film by David Lynch (made, astonishingly, when he was a student at the American Film Institute) launched the director as a major new talent, singlehandedly created the phenomenon/genre of “midnight movies,” and remains a milestone in personal, independent filmmaking. It’s a surreal nightmare exploring male paranoia that sees the title character (played by the memorably coiffed Jack Nance) struggle to negotiate his wage-slave job, relations with the opposite sex, sinister hallucinations (often involving his radiator), mutant offspring, and, most terrifying of all, his in-laws. (97 mins., 35mm)

In this screening we reunite Eraserhead with Asparagus, the animated short, directed by Suzan Pitt, that was its original midnight movie partner. (19 mins, 35mm)