Mar 19,1977
Hollywood Movies | Drama | Fantasy | Horror
| nudity | 3/10 - Some mild sexual themes Some strange moaning noises can be heard, but they may be overlooked by younger viewers Mary's mother asks Henry if he had had sex with her daughter, and proceeds to lick Henry's neck briefly. Henry and The Beautiful Girl Across the Hall kiss as they sink into a pool of smokey liquid in the middle of a bed. Sex is slightly implied One of the movie's underlying themes is a man's fear of relationships and parenting. |
| violence | 5/10 No violence really, but the movie contains some disturbing, surreal imagery that can be very bloody and distressing, but the film is shot in black and white so it's not graphic. A cooked turkey is shown to kick its legs and bleed as Henry attempts to cut it. A creature gets ill and is shown wheezing with gruesome pox covering it. In a dream sequence, a man's head is quickly knocked off by a phallic-looking appendage bursting from his neck, and a new, deformed head grows in its place. Some blood is near the severed head but it comes from something else. A small hole is later drilled into it. The special effects for it are slightly dated. The climax: A creature is cut up the middle with scissors while it screeches and gurgles and bleeds. It's organs are exposed for a prolonged period while it struggles to breathe, its beating heart visible. The man then stabs the heart with the scissors, causing it to bleed and then ooze an unknown white substance, covering the body. The still-living creature's neck grows considerably long and its head, apparently disembodied, floats in front of the man glaring at him. The scene is presented in a way which makes Henry seem more curious and scared than malicious or murderous, which is very unsettling. The scene is very unrealistic, in a surreal way, which might make it less disturbing to watch. |
| profanity | 1/10 - Very mild "Damn" and "Hell" are used a few times. 1 faint "shit" |
| alcohol | None |
| frightening | 9/10 - The movie has a pervasively dark and eerie atmosphere. Very similar to some of David Lynch's (this film's director) other films such as Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire minus all the sex, profanity and violence. There are many frightening/distressing surreal images such as deformed people and creatures. The climax of the movie has the most disturbing image of all. (See the "Violence and Gore" section for more info) Some characters behave disturbingly. The whole movie is basically intended to be one long nightmare based off of a man's fears. The movie is very distressing. Major spoiler: A man MIGHT have killed his child. The ending slightly implies that nothing in the film really happened though. You'd have to analyze the movie to reach that conclusion Overall, the movie isn't as inappropriate as it may sound. The movie is distressing, but it's more likely to cause some to become weirded out than mentally scarred. Reccomended for 13 and up |
|
|
|
|
