Eraserhead

Absurda/indieBuyer.net, B&W, 108 min. plus supplements, Dolby Digital, widescreen, Street: July 5, $39.94; First Run: L, March 1977, $7 mil.

Long available solely on his own Web site, David Lynch's Eraserhead is now made available via a nominally more traditional mode of distribution, through indieBuyer.net. Lynch's first feature remains a strange, unforgettable concoction that concerns (we think) a bizarrely coiffed young man (Jack Nance) living in a industrial-type tenement with his prone-to-fits lady friend (Charlotte Stewart), who eventually gives birth to their baby, a viscous, chicken-like mutant. The DVD offers a stunning audio and video transfer, but it doesn't include any answers or interpretations to aid in understanding this hard-to-penetrate film. On disc, Eraserhead's difficulties begin with the packaging. Outfitted with an 8" by 8" box and a tricky inner sleeve in which the disc is sheathed, it's a bit unwieldy and tricky to merchandise, though it looks quite cool. The primary supplement is a feature-length talk given by Lynch on Eraserhead's origins and production. Well, it's mostly about the production, as the iconoclastic filmmaker admits, "I can't remember when I got the idea, when the word 'Eraserhead' or any of part of the idea came to me first." A half hour into the supplement, Lynch places a call to assistant director Catherine Coulson, who offers some stories on the movie, highlighted by her styling of Eraserhead star Nance's hair. She doesn't hesitate in noting that his towering 'do has become so iconic that she wishes she had taken hair credit on the film.