"In heaven everything is fine."

Back here on Earth I'm sitting at my desk, feeling entirely uncomfortable, trying to regain my grip on reality after watching this film. Eraserhead is a remarkable work that leaves the viewer genuinely disturbed. I could probably go on for hours about the various thematic elements, sexual imagery, acting, or even just what the hell that baby might have been made of, but I would rather discuss the technical achievements that impressed me even more.

In the first few minutes of the picture it becomes clear that the decision to use black and white film was correct. Direct and effective application of lighting created a beautiful contrast for most of the film. The sense of darkness was at times overwhelming and the cinematography, which included the most effective transitions to black I have ever seen, left me feeling like I was being helplessly dragged to a place I desperatly didn't want to be.

Still more impressive than the visuals was the sound. An intricate compilation of audio created the immersion that made the film really click. Sound was complex, clean, and generally higher quality than many films of the time. Most impressive was the correct localization of sound. When a character speaks their voice sounds like it's coming from their mouth. The sense of audio magically (and often painfully) emerging two inches from your face, a staple of other older low budget movies, is nowhere to be found.

It's clear just from watching that a lot of time and effort went into the light and sound design for this film. In my opinion the superb visuals and audio of Eraserhead turned what could have been merely a series of grotesque images into something that forced me to think and feel.