Eraserhead - Legacy

Legacy

In 2004, Eraserhead was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. Selection for the Registry is based on a film being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Eraserhead was one of the subjects featured in the 2005 documentary Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream, which charted the rise of the midnight movie phenomenon in the late 1960s and 70s; Lynch took part in the documentary through a series of interviews. The production covers six films which are credited as creating and popularizing the genre; also included are Night of the Living Dead, El Topo, Pink Flamingos, The Harder They Come, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 2010, the Online Film Critics Society compiled a list of the 100 best directorial débuts, listing what they felt were the best first-time feature films by noted directors. Eraserhead placed second in the poll, behind Orson Welles' 1941 Citizen Kane.

Lynch collaborated with most of the cast and crew of Eraserhead again on later films. Frederick Elmes served as cinematographer on Blue Velvet, 1988's The Cowboy and the Frenchman, and 1990's Wild at Heart; Alan Splet provided sound design for The Elephant Man, Dune, and Blue Velvet. Jack Fisk later directed episodes of Lynch's 1992 television series On the Air and worked as a production designer on 2001's Mulholland Drive and 1999's The Straight Story. Coulson and Nance appeared in Twin Peaks, and made further appearances in Dune, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, and 1997's Lost Highway.

Following the release of Eraserhead, Lynch attempted to find funding for his next project, Ronnie Rocket, a film "about electricity and a three-foot guy with red hair". Lynch met film producer Stuart Cornfeld during this time. Cornfeld had enjoyed Eraserhead and was interested in producing Ronnie Rocket; he worked for Mel Brooks and Brooksfilms at the time, and when the two realized that Ronnie Rocket was unlikely to find sufficient financing, Lynch asked to see some already-written scripts to work from for his next film. Cornfeld found four scripts that he felt would interested Lynch, but on hearing the name of the first, the director decided his next project would be The Elephant Man.

While Lynch was working on his second film, The Elephant Man, he met American director Stanley Kubrick, who revealed to Lynch that Eraserhead was his favorite film. Eraserhead also served as an influence on Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining; Kubrick reportedly screened the film for the cast and crew to "put them in the mood" that he wanted the film to achieve. Eraserhead is also credited with influencing the 1990 Japanese cyberpunk film Tetsuo: The Iron Man, the experimental 1990 horror film Begotten, and Darren Aronofsky's 1998 directorial debut Pi.